Sometimes a team just runs out of gas and for FAU in the final game of their near 15 day road-trip the Owls put together a valiant comeback effort, but just fell short, losing to Seton Hall 63-61.
The Owls started this game ice cold from the field, finishing the first half 7 of 31 from the field and 2 of 17 from 3 and the Owls found themselves trailing 34-22 at the half. It was the second straight game where the Owls shot less than 20% from 3 in the first half and both resulted in losses as the Owls found their offensive rhythm too late.
The Owls came into this tournament with the goal of winning a championship, however they fell short and finished 1-2, letting slow offensive starts plague them in both games. That does not phase John Jakus however, as he believes these shooting struggles are due to the road trip and he guarantees the Owls will correct their inefficiencies by next Saturday as they will be back at home.
“I think when we showed up here, we were a top five shooting team in the country. These guys haven’t had a morning workout in their own gym for 15 days. We do player development every morning. This kid (Leland) never misses and then we come back for two hours of practice. We purposely set up the day where we never go over two hours. So then get shots. We’ve had a practice gym at College of Charleston. I’ll say this College of Charleston has been as classy to us as you could ever imagine. They’ve given us more than we could ever ask for. Just unbelievable to us, but we’re driving 20 minutes to a high school gym for a 50 minute shoot around. These guys need player development, and long time in a hotel isn’t the answer. So do I think we’re not going to shoot? Well, no, I think we’re going to shoot great. I’m positive of it,” Jakus said.
FAU’s slow start offensively hurt them in this one, but it did not deter them as they fought to the very end. The Owls trailed 39-24 just 2 minutes into the second half as they were unable to cut into the 12 point halftime deficit, however Jakus called a timeout to stop the bleeding and it lit a spark under this team that almost carried them to a victory.
Seton Hall was able to hold their double digit lead through 10 minutes of the second half, however following the U8 timeout the Owls began to make a significant run. Although the Owls were never able to really find their 3 point shot, they found rhythm late, battling down low and eventually cashing in from 3 sparingly. The Owls went into the U8 trailing by 10, however Matas Vokietaitis who was dealing with foul trouble hit back to back buckets out of the timeout, and after a Kaleb Glenn and-1 and Leland Walker drive to the rim, the lead was cut to 5 heading into the U4 timeout. The Owls battled, getting a huge momentum shifting alley-oop from Glenn and a triple from Kyky Tandy to cut the deficit to 1, 62-61 with 25 seconds left, however Leland Walker’s last second triple fell short and the Owls ultimately lost 63-61.
Overall on the day, the Owls were led by Walker who finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, while Vokietaitis finished with 10 points and 9 rebounds, finishing as the only Owls in double figures. They led FAU in the score column, but according to Jakus this team was led by their hearts, determination, and a bit of luck to finish strong down the stretch.
“Well, I want to say their heart. I think we’re pretty lucky. Leland tonight had 16 and six and made all his free throws, took care of the basketball, only one turnover, I think, and he led well. And I think there was an energy that came when we didn’t quit. And the one thing we have in common in all these games that have gone good and bad in our favor, is we haven’t quit, and we followed the game plan a little too late. I’m a little disappointed in that. I thought the game plan offensively. You could see it with our slips and ghosts and some other things, and a roller in the last 10 minutes was clear. But for the most part, I’m proud of the guys, and once it clicked that the game plan was the right thing, and they settled in. You saw how it was, pretty special,” Jakus said.
The one thing about the Owls ferocious comeback that didn’t go their way was that the game winning shot did not fall. Leland Walker dribbled it up for the Owls and attempted to drive and was stalled and he was forced to pass to Tandy who was covered and Tandy gave it back to Walker for a last second attempt, but it was off-balance and well off.
Under the Dusty May regime the Owls would never use a timeout in that situation, as May emphasized trust in his group and in this one the Owls had a timeout left, but Jakus opted not to use it. Although Jakus also has extreme trust in his guys, his reasoning for not using the timeout is analytically based and is modeled after his former boss, hall of famer Scott Drew.
“Yeah, analytically, I worked for Scott, Drew, anything above a certain number, we don’t call time outs. Scott was just in the Thanksgiving tournament, and they hit a last second three, and they had half the time we did on the clock. So I’m going to go with the Hall of Fame coaches’ analytics and the things that have worked. And certainly people are going to critique me. But even as we go through ups and downs, I’m pretty certain that I’m as good at analytics as anybody in the country, and I trust Leland. I’d do it again. And if you give them the ball with over 10 seconds, you’re going to have to stop them next time,” Jakus said.
The Owls will finally head back home after nearly 15 days on the road and will have the week of Thanksgiving off, before matching up with FGCU in a critical home matchup next Saturday. It will be a much welcomed return for the Owls as they will be able to practice in their facilities, while also getting proper rest.
It will also be a chance for FAU to wipe the slate clean, as they have had back to back shooting performances where they did not meet their standards. The Owls have a chance to bounce back in a big way, as FGCU, FIU, Texas State and Jacksonville all are outside the top 100 teams in the country and should be games FAU wins handily. For Leland Walker, who managed to find success over the past 2 matchups, he believes this stretch is a chance for them to turn things around.
“Just make sure we bounce back. That’s really what it is. Just wipe this clean and make sure we bounce back. Learn from it, but we just got to stay on the course,” Walker said.
Previous in-game recap:
1h First 4:
The Owls came out with physicality on both ends of the court, as their defense forced Seton Hall to a 1 of 9 start, while they finished with a pair of offensive rebounds on the same possession which resulted in a Tandy triple. Tandy hit the first shot of the day for FAU, while Walker followed him with a strong drive to the rim for 2, which gave the Owls a quick 5-0 lead which held for nearly 4 minutes. Chaune Jenkins converted on the Pirates first shot of the day with 16:07 to play in the first half, which made the score 5-3 heading into the UH timeout.
U12 media timeout-
Following the physical start which led to an early Owls lead, they went ice cold. Kaleb Glenn had a physical bucket right out of the U16 timeout, however that was the Owls last point for nearly 4 minutes and counting. Seton Hall responded with an 8-0 run to take control of momentum and were leading 11-7 heading into the U12 timeout with 11:31 to play. The owls started 3 of 15 from the field and 1 of 8 from three and early on there was no offense in sight for the Owls.
U8 media timeout-
Things really began to slow down for the FAU offense, as after a Max Langenfeld triple with 10:22 to play cut the deficit to 14-10, the rim grew a lid as the Owls went scoreless from the field for nearly 3 minutes and Seton Hall went on an 8-2 run in that time. Isaiah Coleman converted on a pair of free throws off an owl turnover, which gave the Pirates a 22-12 lead heading into the U8 timeout.
U4 media timeout-
Things didn’t improve very much for FAU over the next 4 minutes, as despite the Owls finding a little bit of flow offensively, the Pirates did as well and the best FAU could do is trade buckets. Heading into the final media timeout of the half, trailing 31-20 and the Owls were shooting under 30% from the field and under 15% from 3.
Final 2:
Seton Hall closed the half on a 4-1 run, forcing an Owls turnover and a quick miss from Ken Evans and heading into half Seton Hall held their biggest lead of the game, 34-22.
U16 2H timeout-
Seton Hall came out of the gates with great energy, forcing a quick turnover on FAU and jolting a quick 5-2 run to give the Pirates their biggest lead of the day, 39-24 and forcing Jakus into an early timeout just 2 minutes into the half. That led to a solid response from FAU, as they went on a 6-0 run, 4 of them coming from Baba Miller and heading into the U16 timeout the lead was back to single digits, 39-30 Pirates.
U12 2H timeout-
It was just not the Owls day as their 6-0 run didn’t turn into anything meaningful, as FAU and Seton hall traded back to back buckets out of the U16 timeout, however after that the Owls went on their 3rd streak of 3 minutes or longer without scoring from the field. Seton Hall was struggling as well, however they still sparked a mini 5-2 run, and heading into the U12 the lead was back to double figures, 47-36.
U8 2H timeout-
The teams continued to trade buckets which led to no progress cutting into the lead for FAU. David Tubek hit a triple in transition for Seton Hall and the lead was up to 54-40, however the owls responded with back to back buckets, including a steal and score for Ken Evans and the lead was back down to 10, 54-44 heading into the U8.
U4 2H timeout-
FAU came out of the U8 break with a holt of energy, going on a 9-4 run, getting domination down low from Vokietaitis as he scored 4 straight, and a pair of buckets off turnovers from Walker and Glenn and the lead was down to 5, 58-53 pirates heading into the U4 timeout.
Final 4 minutes-
The Owls battled hard down the final few minutes, as Kaleb Glenn and Leland Walker sparked momentum with Glenn converting a thunderous alley-oop and Walker scoring coast to coast off of a steal and after Baba Miller split a pair of free throws to make it 62-58 Seton Hall, KyKy Tandy hit a huge triple to cut the deficit to 62-61. Seton Hall would split a pair of free throws and Jakus went with the analytical approach, letting Walker take it the length of the court, but unfortunately he had no where to go and ultimately missed an off-balance 3 point attempt at the buzzer, to give Seton Hall a 63-61 victory.