FAU Men’s basketball has had their fair share of heart-racing moments this season and they found themselves in another one on the road against ECU, this time however they could exhale in the end. The Owls bounced back in a big way early on in this one, taking a 13 point first half lead before ECU battled back, even taking the lead at times in the second half, but in the end it was FAU who came out on top, responding to numerous ECU runs and holding on for a 78-68 win, their first AAC win of the season.
The Owls looked like a new version of themselves following 2 tough losses at the hands of MSU and Memphis, getting back to the diverse offense that helped them early in the season as they finished with 7 players recording 5 or more points. On the defensive end, the Owls struggled at times on the glass, losing the offensive rebound battle 25-6 and overall rebound battle 49-32, which almost cost them the game in the end.
Although FAU was out-classed on the glass, they found a way to win in the end, battling through numerous ECU runs with ones of their own, getting timely buckets from many players, but specifically Ken Evans Jr, Leland Walker and Tre Carroll who were the lone double-figure scorers today for the Owls. The best teams find ways to win despite the odds and for FAU coach John Jakus, his team battled through adversity today, which included numerous mistakes late in the game, but in the end he is proud of his team’s effort to consistently respond to ECU, especially midway through the second half.
“Yeah, I mean, at this point, we’ve been in tough road games. I don’t know what the math is, but I think we played 10 of our first 14 on the road, and we’ve been in a bunch of close ones. We’ve had to win ones where we shot well and win ones where we haven’t shot well. We got the ball in bounds, okay, but the decision making afterwards was something that we’ll address. So the pride is there. I’m probably most proud of about 10 minutes to go, we went down six and we said, if we’ll get this thing close to even by the eight minute media, we will be okay. And the guys did it, and that second punch that they came with in the second half, we punched first and they punched second to catch up, and then that second punch they came with to be on the road and respond in that moment, we could have folded, and we didn’t that that two and a half minutes is probably the stretch I’m most proud of,” Jakus said.
It was a much needed bounce back performance offensively for FAU, as the Owls found their 3-point shot in an offense that looked as efficient as it has all season, recording 20 assists for only the 3rd time this season. The Owls finished the day shooting 53% from the field and 50% on triples and at the half the Owls were 6 of 7 from beyond the arc, which was a big factor in their ability to stay in the game as ECU accounted for 14 second chance points in the first half.
The 3 point shooting was huge for FAU in this one, however triples only accounted for one-third of FAU’s total points, as they also finished with 40 points in the paint, finding success in a variety of ways by moving the ball, ultimately assisting on 78% of their made baskets. When FAU has been most dangerous this season is when their ball movement results in open-looks from beyond the arc and in the paint and today they were able to do that, which led them to a victory in spite of a ferocious rebounding effort from ECU.
At times this season the Owls have been reliant on their perimeter shooting, but tonight it didn’t make or break the offense and after a game where the Owls shot 31 triples and only made 5 of them, this game was a totally different story. A big contributor to the Owls 3 point success today was Ken Evans Jr., who finished with 17 points and 4 triples, including one with 56 seconds remaining which served as a quasi-dagger and according to Jakus, the best is yet to come for Evans Jr.
“Ken averaged 19 points a game last year and has been going through a difficult time. And I know in today’s day and age with social media, it’s probably easy to fall into easy picking, but he’s a really good player, and delivers 17 today, four of seven from the three. That’s the Ken we saw this summer, and I think that’s the Ken you’re going to see over the next couple of weeks, and I just, I really love Ken as a person, and he’s always done the right thing. He never complains, and he pushed through, and just like Tre’s kind of pushed through this new level this last three weeks, I think that’s right around the corner for Ken,” Jakus said.
The Owls were led today by Ken Evans Jr and Tre Carroll, who each finished with 17 a piece, while Leland Walker rounded out the double-figure scorers with 14 and although Baba Miller only finished with 9, he accounted for numerous key buckets, also recording 7 rebounds and 4 assists. This matchup brought back the offensive effort from FAU that we saw early in the season where it seems like any player was able to provide a key basket at times and although the offensive effort wasn’t perfect, they got enough at the right time to get the job done.
Something that could have potentially played a role in the Owls offensive spark today was for the first time this season, the Owls made a lineup change, inserting Tre Carroll into the starting lineup and moving Matas Vokietaitis to the bench. It payed off in a big way, as Carroll, who is in the midst of a career year, scored 15 or more for the 5th time in 6 games and most importantly it led to an FAU win.
Carroll throughout his success this season has remained self-less, always putting the teams success ahead of his own, however being inserted into the starting lineup for the first time in his collegiate career was something that was a dream come true.
“Honestly, it was a dream come true. You know, I’ve always wanted to start at the collegiate level, but it’s about finishing the game for me. And you know, I’m just thankful that I was able to start for the first time. But all in all, how we finish the game is what is most important. I think a little down the stretch in the first half I allowed CJ Walker to get going on by not boxing him out hard and being soft, so I take responsibility for that. I think that was a big chunk of me. But all in all I’m really thankful coach Jakus has allowed me to start today, and I’m just looking forward to the opportunity,” Carroll said.
It wasn’t perfect today for FAU, as they allowed ECU to dominate on the glass, while also turning it over multiple times late in the game which almost allowed the Pirates to come back, but it didn’t, which is what is most important in the end. FAU will look to fine tune some things over the next few days, next matching up with Charlotte on Wednesday, as over 20 offensive rebounds allowed isn’t a path to success, but after playing 2 tough opponents in MSU and Memphis and losing both in disheartening fashion, a road win over a conference opponent is something FAU can hang their hats on for now.