LBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team fell to New Mexico in the two teams’ season opener Wednesday night at The Pit.
QuotableHead Coach Dusty May:
“Exciting to be back in a great environment, great atmosphere. It was awesome for our guys to be back competing together, sitting next to each other on the bench. First, I was very happy with our guys, their rooting for each other, cheering for each other, being very together. I thought that was encouraging.
“Offensively, I thought our post players did an amazing job of scoring down low. We could have finished off a couple more offensive rebounds, but I thought that was the biggest bright spot, how well our bigger players, our players up front played. We’ve got to take care of the ball a little bit better. We made our free throws tonight, so if we can take care of the ball and pound it inside a little bit more, I think this team has a chance to be very very good.”
The BeginningFAU (0-1) and the Lobos (1-0) battled in the first half, with five lead changes and seven ties. A putback by UNM’s Jay Allen-Tovar with one second left gave the home team a two-point lead going into the locker room, 43-41.
The Turning PointThe Owls started out the second half on fire from beyond the arc (after not making a 3-pointer in the first 20 minutes). Five of the team’s first seven makes after the break were 3’s, and led to a 62-57 lead at the 13:39 mark. It was 69-69 at the under-12 media timeout – and at that point Bitumba Baruti had scored nine points in a row for FAU – but after exchanging baskets, the Lobos held the Owls scoreless for nearly 4:00, going on a 9-0 (and eventual 14-2) run that nearly cemented it.
The FinishThe spread didn’t get to single digits again until under 40 seconds remaining, on a Michael Forrest 3-pointer. Forrest scored 14 of the Owls’ last 19, towards a team-high 26 on the night, but UNM would take the seven-point win.
Owl the Stats
- Forrest picked up where he left off last season when he had 27 in the finale at the C-USA Championship. His 26 on Wednesday came on 8-of-14 shooting, with four 3’s, and 6-of-7 from the line
- Baruti had 15 points, all in the second half, and was one rebound shy of a double-double with a team-high nine
- Madiaw Niang set a career high by scoring 14, 10 coming in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting. Vladislav Goldin set a career high as well with 10 points
- The Owls outrebounded the Lobos, 42-25, with 17 coming on the offensive end. Behind Baruti were Forrest and Alijah Martin with six apiece
- Everett Winchester paced the squad and matched his personal best with six assists, followed by Forrest and Alejandro Ralat with four each. Ralat’s four helpers came in a new high of 16 minutes, against zero turnovers
- The Owls shot just under 50 percent from the field (32-of-65, 49.2%) and made 20-of-23 free throws, 87%, in a hostile environment of 8,553
What’s NextThe Owls return home for the ’21-’22 home opener, hosting Warner this Saturday at 4 p.m. Get tickets by clicking HERE or by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
Follow the OwlsFor the most up-to-date information on the squad, follow along on Twitter (@FAUMBB), Instagram (@FAUMBB) and Facebook (FAU Men’s Basketball).
