Owls MBB Wraps Regular Season Thur-Fri

BOCA RATON — The Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team wraps up its regular season slate Thursday and Friday, hosting Middle Tennessee State University Thursday and Friday at Abessinio Court at FAU Arena.

The Owls are 10-9 overall and 5-5 in C-USA action, while MTSU enters the weekend 5-15 and 3-11.

The Owls picked up their second C-USA series sweep of the season last week, taking a pair from Southern Miss on the road. MTSU dropped a pair to Old Dominion last weekend.

Middle Tennessee leads the all-time series by a tally of 19-6, but FAU has defeated the Blue Raiders in their last two matchups. Included in those two victories was a thrilling, 97-94 overtime win at The Burrow last season.

This weekend’s games will have a bearing on the Owls’ seeding for next week’s Conference USA Championship Tournament. FAU could finish as high as No. 3 in the C-USA East Division and could slip to the No. 5 seed. The Owls are currently squarely in the middle of the seven-team division, with a fourth-place spot in the standings.


Glass Cleaners

Offensive rebounding has been a point of emphasis for the Owls. The message has been received. FAU averaged 12.84 offensive boards per game coming into the weekend, which ranks No. 1 in Conference USA and No. 22 in the nation. The Owls hold an edge in second-chance points in 16 of 19 games this season. FAU was also No. 1 in C-USA and No. 13 in the nation in rebound margin (+8.4) coming into the weekend.


Forrest For the 3’s

Michael Forrest is one of the most prolific 3-point shooters in Conference USA. The junior guard was No. 5 in the league and No. 71 in the naiton in 3-point field goals made per game, averaging 2.58 per contest coming into the weekend. He was No. 5 in the conference and No. 72 in the naiton in 3-point field goal percentage at .363. His 151 career 3-point field goals made currently ranks No. 9 on the FAU all-time chart. Forrest is the No. 2-ranked scorer on the team, averaging 11.8 points per game.


Ingram Finding A Way

Jailyn Ingram has struggled with injuries during his FAU career. He left Game 2 of the Charlotte series with an injury and was not himself in the Owls’ last series at UTSA. Head coach Dusty May has said Ingram needs to play “old man ball” to avoid injury, heading into the C-USA Tournament. Ingram has been coming off the bench and adapting to the change in role. Friday night, he came off the bench, hit 4 3-pointers and tallied 12 points. Last Saturday, he also tallied 12 points, including a huge 3-pointer late in the contest. Ingram has scored in double digits in 11 of his 16 outings. He has six 20-point performances this season. Ingram has 10 double-doubles for his career. He is the most prolific current Owl in the category of double-doubles.


Shilly Showing Up

Big man Karlis Silins played a big role in last weekend’s sweep of Southern Miss. He scored a game-high 15 points Saturday and tallied 10 Friday. He pulled down six boards in each contest vs. the Golden Eagles. Silins has scored in double digits in seven straight games and in 11 total this season. He has tallied double digits in 8 of 10 C-USA games.


On Tap

After the Owls wrap the regular season March 4-5 hosting Middle Tennessee State in a two-game set at Abessinio Court at FAU Arena, it’s two-stepping off to the Conference USA Championship Tournament in Frisco, Texas. The Owls could finish as high as the No. 3 seed or as low as the No. 5 seed in the C-USA East Division. FAU won its first-round game in Frisco last season, defeating Old Dominion before Covid-19 caused the cancellation of the remainder of the tournament.