It was all good for FAU Men’s Basketball Sunday afternoon against North Texas, until it wasn’t. The Owls found themselves up 12 in the first half against a Mean Green squad which was undefeated at home, however it was a tale of 2 halves, as after FAU took a 7 point lead into the break North Texas outscored them by 20 in the second half, going on to win 77-64.
The first half was smooth sailing at times for FAU, as their perimeter defense, which has struggled this season, was suffocating the Mean Green, forcing 5 turnovers and through the first 14 minutes the Mean Green had only 1 3-pointer attempted. On the other end of the court, FAU was shooting both 50% from the field and from beyond the arc and although they had 7 turnovers, they assisted on 7 out 12 baskets and the ball movement was working well, but things began to shift in the second half.
After only 5 triples attempted in the first half, UNT doubled that in the second half, shooting 5 of 10 from beyond the arc, also not turning the ball over once during the second half. While the Mean Green’s offense flourished, FAU’s offense sputtered, recording 8 turnovers and 1 of 10 shooting from beyond the arc and according to FAU Coach John Jakus, the Mean Green were able to adjust to FAU’s zone defense in the second half which was a major factor in the comeback.
“Yeah, we shot 50% from the field in the first half, 80% from the line, 50% from three, they shot 38% in the first half. So I thought we were a plus there. The changing defenses seemed to work for a period of time, and then the second half, they just ignored the defense we were in. They found the defender that they thought they could pick on, and they either went one on one or they backed that guy down. So the defense almost became insignificant, because at that point we needed to be in rotations, and they did a good job. The last piece I would say is we did a good job guarding the three point line in the first half and then in the second half, between the rim pressure of the post ups and the kick outs, we gave up some threes,” Jakus said.
Kaleb Glenn willed the Owls to the early lead and kept them in it at times during the second half, as he finished with 20 points and 7 rebounds, scoring in a variety of ways against a staunch UNT defense. Baba Miller finished with 11 points and Tre Carroll was in double figures for the 10th time in 11 games, finishing with 10, but outside of those 3 the scoring in the second half was inconsistent and when UNT stormed back, the Owls were hit with multiple minute scoring droughts, including a near 3 minute drought from 6:21 to 3:50 in the second half where UNT’s lead ballooned to double figures.
After a first half where the Owls looked to right some of the wrongs that have plagued them all season, they stormed back to haunt them in the second half with inconsistent 3-point shooting and poor perimeter defense being 2 big factors in North Texas’s ability to storm back and FAU’s inability to respond. It looked like early on the Owls carried over momentum from their last performance where they stormed from behind to defeat Rice, but inconsistency has plagued FAU throughout the season and it hurt them once again tonight.
The key for FAU now will be how they respond, as they have a winnable matchup on Wednesday against UTSA, however they will have to not let this loss beat them twice. After the game, Kaleb Glenn didn’t comment on his performance today, rather dialing in right away on UTSA, mentioning if they learn from their loss it’s a game they can win.
“We just have to see what UTSA is like and track their weaknesses and just learn from what just happened today, and I think we’ll come up with a win if we do that,” Glenn said.
It is a veteran mindset for Glenn, as despite scoring 20 or more points for the 3rd time this season, he is focused on the Owls next matchup, one that could potentially spark a win streak as their next 5 opponents are all outside of the top 5 in the AAC. The Owls have been unable to bounce back right away following losses this season, as each loss has been in a sequence of 2 or 3, but the next matchup with UTSA is a chance for them to change that narrative.
There have been some bumps in the road so far this season for FAU and the inability to consistently close out games has been something that hurt them since their first loss of the season to UCF. Something like late game execution is something that only gets better with time and although tonight’s performance was one the Owls would like to forget, they have to learn from it, and bounce back, as if they can the next 5 games present themselves as winnable opportunities.
Although UTSA has had a rocky start to AAC play, they will bring one of the most talented players in the conference to town in Primo Spears and despite FAU being analytically favored, this game could work itself out to be a battle. John Jakus mentions that UTSA will be a totally different opponent than UNT was, but the work will start on the flight home.
“It’s a completely different style of play, so to follow a game plan, take away the three and then make sure their guards don’t get going, which is a little bit different, because today it was so much of making sure we don’t give up post touches. The game will change against UTSA in those three regards, but we’ll focus on that on the flight home and then we’ll lock in on that tomorrow,” Jakus said.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Owls, as they will be back at home on Wednesday evening for a 7 pm tip-off against UTSA, a game which could serve as a bounce back opportunity for FAU if they’re able to pull off the victory.