FAU may be in Charleston, but on the basketball court there is no relaxing for this Owls squad. After trailing Oklahoma State by double digits in the 1st half, the Owls responded by limiting the Cowboys to under 40% from the field in the second half en route to a 86-78 victory.
The first half was a struggle for FAU, as they committed 11 turnovers which translated into 17 first half points for Oklahoma State. Despite shooting 50% from 3 at the half the Owls were still trailing and were in need of adjustments on both ends of the court, as defensively they allowed 25 points off of turnovers or through fast break and offensively there was nothing consistent.
They got those adjustments and in a big way, as they only turned it over 4 times during the second half, which cut the points off turnovers down from 17 in the first half to only 5 during half number 2. By limiting their giveaways, FAU also was able to set up more efficiently and after allowing 5 of 15 shooting from 3 to OSU in the first half, they held them to 1 of 11 during the second half. On the offensive end FAU took what was given to them, as the game slowed down due to both teams being in the double bonus, but FAU was able to capitalize on that, hitting 28 of 34 free throws during the second half. Although tonight wasn’t the flashy offensive showing that John Jakus would have liked, they got the job done by making adjustments and through a big night from Kyky Tandy.
“The first half, for sure, we were frustrated with the turnovers. The second half, we only had four turnovers. I thought we kind of learned to take care of the ball. We needed simpler actions and simpler sets just to be solid. And the guys did a good job of making that adjustment. The largest adjustment, probably the last three or four days in a hotel room, has been let’s play a little defense. Hold them to 34% from the field, a big 12 team, 23% from the three point line. That’s a step forward for our group. We had to fight to get to 86, we didn’t do it the way we normally did, but getting into the bonus with 14 to go, and then our guys matured to drive instead of settling for jumpers. And then that one corner three by my guy, KyKy Tandy, really was a difference maker here, so I’m glad it finally came around. I knew it was gonna. We’re super thankful for his 21 today,” Jakus said.
In the second half things slowed down in a major way, as the teams went into the double bonus with more than half of the final period remaining. This could have been detrimental to an FAU team which looks to shoot a lot of triples, however as Jakus mentioned they adjusted their game plan and it worked out.
FAU was led today by KyKy Tandy who finished with 21 points on the day, finishing with 4 made 3’s and 7 of 8 from the free throw line, however as usual with this Owls squad it wasn’t a one man band. Ken Evans Jr and Leland Walker each finished with 14 and 13 points respectively, however they were both shooting under 25% from the field, but rather than letting that affect them, they each finished 9 of 11 from the charity stripe.
Overall on the day FAU finished 35 of 49 from the free throw line with no one having more than 3 missed attempts, showing an aggressive mindset as the game slowed down and the whistle frequented. Despite the Owls game plan normally revolving around the 3-point shot, Jakus says that his squad doesn’t care where the points come from, rather they are just looking for ways to win and tonight they found one.
“I don’t think we care. Points are points. And, you know, styles make fights like there’s this feeling that we’re getting offense and we’re not as good at defense. But at the end of the day, there’s different ways to win different games. In OK state, between the free throws and the way they play defense, the game was going to be much slower. I thought they might run on with us, but they did the opposite. And because of that, we’ve got to find a different way, and we’ll move on. We’ll go back to making shots another day, but right now, just want to be proud of our defense. Go back to the hotel and come up with a game plan for tomorrow,” Jakus said.
FAU had 3 of the 4 “big men” in foul trouble, as Kaleb Glenn, Tre Carroll, and Matas Vokietaitis all had 4 fouls, however they were all able to finish the game as the Owls adjusted defensively the best they could with quick whistles. It was even worse on the other end, as Oklahoma State had 3 players foul out and another 3 with 4 fouls which left them extremely thin at the end.
Oklahoma State battled in this one, however after the game Coach Steve Lutz he was left without answers. The foul trouble in the second half left them in an unfortunate scenario, mentioning it was a tough game to coach and an even harder one to play in, however he credits FAU for finding a way to win.
“I don’t know that I have an answer. I have coached a long time, and I don’t know that I’ve been a part of very many of those games, and those guys are good officials, but it was a tough game to have any sort of flow. It was a tough game as a player. It was a tough game as a coach, and I’m sure it was a tough game for the officials so we just gotta find a way to win. And credit. FAU, they found a way to win,” Lutz said.
FAU will now rest for the remainder of the day as they have an 11:30 AM matchup with Drake, a game which will be a battle through and through. The Bulldogs defeated Miami 80-69 in a wire to wire defeat and despite their lack of size and shooting they simply found a way to win.
Drake shot 46% from the field and only 21% from 3, however they dominated the offensive glass winning the OREB battle 14-5 and overall rebound battle 35-23 despite not having a rotation player taller than 6 ‘8. Their paint domination didn’t stop with rebounds either, as they won the points in the paint battle over Miami 36-18, adjusting their offense to attack after shots were not falling early on.
The Bulldogs got a diverse scoring effort as they finished with 4 players with 9 or more points, led by Bennett Stirtz who finished with 21 points 6 rebounds and 6 assists, Mitch Mascari finished with 15, while their 6’6 “Big man” Daniel Abreu finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. They slowed things down against Miami and it resulted in them finding a way to win, and FAU Coach John Jakus credits their coach Ben McColumn and knows that this upcoming matchup will be a battle.
“Ben is a heck of a coach, this is going to be another game where styles may fight. I think we’re top 25 in pace. I don’t know what it is after the day, but they, I think they’re bottom 25 in pace, for sure, and they’re going to try to control and can frustrate you in the game. As far as the actions and the personnel, I’ve got to catch up on that coach Fee’s had a schedule. He’s working on them all week because they’ve kind of coached in the same national championships, Final Fours, before so we’ll get there this afternoon. It’s a quick turnaround at 11am and you know, that’s a great coach and I was watching on my phone when I could, what a game plan they had today. So we gotta really lock in and make sure the scout is right,” Jakus said.
The Owls will lock in as much as they can between now and 11:30 am tomorrow when they face off against Drake in the semi-finals of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic.
Previous in game recap:
1H First 4 minutes-
The Owls came out with energy, as Oklahoma State won the tip and Baba Miller rejected Khalil Brantley on a drive to the rim and that got things rolling. Kyky Tandy started things positively for the Owls as on their first possession of the day he hit a triple as the shot clock was winding down to get them early momentum and on the next possession Baba Miller hit one of his own to jolt the Owls to a quick 6-0 lead.
Leland Walker and Matas Vokietaits split a pair of free throws each and after a pair of Ok State baskets to get off the snide, the game was 8-5 FAU heading into the U16 timeout, with Ok State shooting 2/9, while FAU was 2 for their first 3.
U16 timeout-
After starting out the game with back to back made triples, the Owls went on a bit of a cold streak and the game went into a back and forth battle after that. Matas Vokietatis slammed home a dunk to give the Owls a 10-5 lead out of the break, however things stalled after that. FAU went into the break with an 11-10 lead and a near 2 minute scoring drought as OSU was limiting their 3 point chances and it hurt the Owls offense.
U12 media timeout-
The Owls immediately snapped their 2 minute cold spell out of the U16 with a bucket from Tre Carroll on a drive to the rim, however Ok State had momentum and were stifling the Owls on offense after that. The teams traded buckets for a near 2 minute stretch following that however with 10:40 to go the Cowboys went on a run. OSU went on a 7-0 run, sparked by a technical foul on FAU Assistant Coach Isaiah Austin and at one point FAU lead 16-14, and less than a minute later they were trailing 21-16.
OSU turned that into a 10-3 run, however FAU responded with 5 straight points from Leland Walker and Max Langenfeld and heading into the U8 media timeout the game was still in reach, with FAU trailing 26-23.
U8 media timeout-
Tre Carroll came out of the break with another bucket to bring it back to a one point deficit, however OSU was severely limiting their 3 point attempts and it began to frustrate FAU. Following the made bucket from Carroll, OSU went on a 9-0 run, forcing 2 FAU turnovers and another technical foul which OSU turned into a 5-0 run to go up 35-25 with 5:02 to play in the half. After Tandy hit a triple and Jennings for OSU hit a layup, the score was 37-28 Cowboys heading into the U4 timeout.
Final 4 minutes-
The Owls needed to come out of the timeout with energy and they did that, getting 4 quick points from Vokietaitis to cut the lead back down to 5. Leland Walker hit a pair of free throws with 44 seconds remaining after an OSU bucket and that made the score 39-34, which was our score heading into the half.
Halftime thoughts-
FAU was shooting the ball well at halftime, at 47% from the field and 50% from 3, however 11 first half turnovers really hurt them, as the Cowboys turned that into 17 points. 2 technical fouls on FAU also resulted in 10 points, as OSU converted on all 4 free throws and hit triples on the ensuing free possession.
The Owls were doing enough to stay in the game, however if they are going to turn the tides in the second half they have to play clean basketball and get open looks from 3.
2nd half first 4-
The second half started off in a disastrous way for FAU as within the first 2 minutes the Owls had 0 points, 3 fouls and a pair of turnovers and OSU scored 4 straight and the Cowboys lead was back nearing double digits, 43-34. The Owls snapped the cold streak with with buckets from Glenn and Moretti and the lead was cut to 7, 45-38 heading into the U16 timeout.
U16 timeout-
The Owls came out of the U16 timeout with a huge boost, as Marchelus Avery was assessed a technical foul after he argued a shooting foul against him, and Kyky Tandy converted 4 straight free throws to cut the deficit down to 3, 45-42 with 15:46 remaining.
This ensued a stretch where the squads were trading points back and forth, however Khalil Brantley was hurting FAU on drives to the rim, scoring 8 straight and keeping OSU ahead, albeit by a slim margin. Following a Brantley bucket with 11:54 remaining, the lead was back to 3, 55-52 and that was the score heading into the U12 timeout.
U12 timeout-
The game turned into a back and forth battle after the Owls fought back, as FAU came out of the U12 with a 6-2 run, however Charleston responded with 5 free throws from Brandon Newman and the game was remaining within one possession, 61-60 OSU heading into the U8 timeout. With both teams in the double bonus, expect both sides to play aggressively and look to draw free throws as much as possible over the final 8 minutes.
U 8 timeout-
Both teams being in the double bonus meant that this game was going to slow down and turn into a free throw battle and that is exactly what occurred as over the next 4 minutes it became a full on free throw barrage. Over the next 4 minutes the teams went to the free throw line a combined 5 times, while they only converted on 4 made field goals. It went into the U8 timeout a 1 point OSU lead, however a Leland Walker layup, one of only 3 made field goals between the 8 and 4 minute timeouts tied it at 67 and he was fouled and converted the free throw, which made it 68-67 FAU heading into the final break.
Final 4 minutes-
Now with a 1 point advantage to work with for the first time since the first half, the Owls were able to extend their lead early out of the U4 timeout as Ken Evans knocked down a pair of free throws which gave FAU a 70-67 lead with under 4 minutes remaining. On the next possession he hit 2 more to extend the lead to 4 and on the ensuing possession, Kyky Tandy hit a corner triple to extend the lead to 75-68 with 2:41 remaining which was effectively the dagger.
The Owls held a multiple score lead over the next few possessions, however the true dagger was a Ken Evans Jr drive to the hoop which resulted in an and-1 and after he converted the free throw, FAU led 80-71 with just over a minute remaining. The Owls and Cowboys played the foul game over the final minute, however it was to no avail as a Kaleb Glenn dunk with 13 seconds remaining capped off an 86-78 win.