It took a Johnell Davis scoring 28 and points and an off-balance deep Left-Wing triple from him during the last seconds for FAU to defeat UNT, 66-63, in the teams first go-around on January 28th. That game was a battle, which has been the trend during the matchups of these two teams and nothing different should be expected during the final AAC regular season battle between them on Wednesday night.
The matchup earlier this year was exactly the type of matchup that we saw during these teams tenure in CUSA, as UNT brought hard nosed defensive minded basketball, which FAU had to replicate. It led to a low scoring affair, and the slow pace from UNT allowed them to control the game and helped them hold a lead in the first half and at points during the second, before Johnell Davis did what he does and took over.
At home this year, UNT hasn’t been a dominating force however the same intensity on the court can be expected from the Mean Green and now they will be backed by a raucous home fan base. FAU will need to look to come out early and try to control the pace of the game, otherwise look for another low scoring battle between these 2 teams.
The Owls attempted to right the ship following last week’s loss to Memphis, as they played almost an entirely complete game on Saturday against Tulane at home and got back in the W column, 79-73.
Vlad continued his productive stretch of play, scoring 21 points and grabbing 7 rebounds and giving the Green Wave problems down low against smaller defenders. More importantly, FAU shot the ball a bit more effectively from 3, as Alijah Martin, Nick Boyd, and Jalen Gaffney all had multiple makes and shot above 40% from deep.
Those 3 players stepped up for Johnell Davis, who struggled, scoring only 8 points and fouling out late in the second half. The luxury for FAU to have multiple players to be able to score the ball when needed was what made FAU so dangerous last year and the Owls will hopefully be looking to build on the team effort going forward.
Defensively, FAU was able to limit a normally dangerous 3-point shooting team in the Green Wave to only 15 percent from 3 and held Sion James and Kolby King to single digits. Holding SMU to 5 assists in the win a few weeks ago was a key factor in that victory, and that was the story once again as FAU was able to hold Tulane to only 7 assists on 28 made field goals and completely disrupted their offense at times.
Although the two losses to USF and Memphis have put a bit of a damper on the end of the season for FAU, the Owls have put together unified performances on offense and brought defensive intensity in their wins. Replication and consistency of that will be key, and an opportunity to build on it against a tough Mean Green team looms large.
The Mean Green have been on a bit of an up and down streak since the Owls last saw them in Late January, having a 4-5 record since then. Although the wins and losses have been fluctuating, the defense and dominating pace of play hasn’t fallen off as only 2 teams have been able to score 80 or more on UNT during that 9-game stretch.
What has plagued the Mean Green is their inability to match their defensive intensity on the other end of the court, having scoring performances of only 59, and 62 twice, over their last 9 games. A stat that plays into FAUs hands and help depict why the Mean Green struggle offensively is that they only assist on 44.3% of possessions, which is 314th in the nation. The inability to score fluidly off an assist is partially due to their extremely slow pace of play which is 362/365 NCAA D1 teams, as instead of working to find an open shot as the clock winds down, Jason Edwards or whomever is the ball handler at any given time works to find a shot on their own which tends to be a low percentage one.
That is no knock-on Edwards as he has still been one of the most dangerous scoring threats in the conference, averaging 18.6 PPG and shooting the 3 ball at a 36% clip. When he is on, he is capable of single-handedly overcoming the Mean Green’s offensive struggles, like when he scored 30 to help his squad defeat Memphis 76-66. He will be looking for a bigger performance than the 14 that FAU held him to back in January, as he tries to lead his team to the victory this time on his home court one last time this season.
FAU will be looking to limit Edwards like they have done previously, and force other players to beat them on the offensive end. Forcing turnovers will also be another crucial aspect to the defensive game plan, as if FAU is able to speed up the tempo of the game and force UNT to get out of character that will help the Owls grab momentum and control the pace of the game.
On the other end of the court, FAU will be looking to build on the consistent offensive performances they have been getting from Vlad, while also looking to improve upon the balanced shooting effort they saw against Tulane.
UNT was able to contain Vlad a bit better than some teams, as between two 6’9 defenders in Robert Allen and Moulaye Sissoko the Mean Green were able to throw length at him in the paint and they competed well, however Goldin only had 5 attempts from the field. This will be a good opportunity for Vlad to find more opportunities to succeed as he has been red-hot lately and the team has been doing a good job at finding him in the paint.
It’s also equally important that the Owls build on the shooting performance from last game and look to find the multi dimensional form of their offense that has helped them be successful in the past. Jalen Gaffney and Nick Boyd were able to be sparks outside of the usual sources in the last one, and if the Owls are able to replicate their performances alongside solid games from the Big 3 it could be hard for the Mean Green to match their offensive output.
Something always works out in the matchups between these two squads that leaves spectators on the edge of their seats, and it’s quite possible that it turns out that way again on Wednesday. Whatever the case may be, it is an important game for both sides that can help provide an end of season confidence boost to the winner, alongside a bit of tournament safety if you are FAU.
At the time of this article Oddsmakers have not released the spread, however Ken Pom is predicting a 1-point Owls victory 69-68. Fans can tune in on ESPN+ on Wednesday night at 8 PM est.
