FAU on the bad side of a buzzer beater, where have we seen that before. The epitome of brutality struck FAU once again on Friday night. as Ante Brzovic hit a long range triple with 0’s on the clock, which capped off his 39 point night, leading Charleston to a 119-116 victory over the Owls in double overtime.
It was an offensive clinic once again for FAU, however in a game of runs their defense was never able to stop the bleeding, a problem for the second straight game. Both teams struggled defensively in this one, with FAU finishing 55% from the field and from 3, while Charleston shot 50% from the field and 51% from 3, however the Cougars finished with the last possession and capitalized.
In back to back games the Owls have had dominant offensive showcases, and in this FAU battled back from multiple double digit deficits, using dominating three point shooting in the second half to battle back and forth with the Cougars. Kaleb Glenn led the way with 27 points, while Ken Evans and Kyky Tandy had 17 and 15 respectively and all 3 of them hit at least 3 3-pointers. Despite all of their efforts, the defense was simply not good enough and FAU Coach John Jakus is aware of this naming transition defense, second chance points, and laziness as 3 things FAU has to clean up.
“Clearly, defense is an issue. I mean, they shot 51% from the floor and 50 from three. I mean, very rarely do you shoot 55 from the floor, shoot 55 from three and lose a basketball game. So at the end of the day, we got to clean some things up. I thought some of it was transition defense. Some of it was second chance points. Some of it was just laziness. When it comes to guarding one on one, there were moments where the ball screen coverage was good, but because they’ve got ante, they’re able to go post up, so they can’t get the stuff they want out of their zoom or ball screen actions, and they can, they can go inside. And clearly we had struggled guarding the big kid, and that’s why we went small, and then the small lineup was actually better at handling that. So we’re gonna have to tinker with our lineups. We’re gonna have to tinker with personnel. We’re gonna have to tinker with who guards the point guard. Unfortunately we have run into two teams that can actually come get us at 100 points. And so our guys are gonna have to learn from that,” Jakus said.
The Owls got 60 bench points tonight, another showing of depth and tonight’s performance was in part because the Owls rotated heavily to match up in different situations. The Owls came out of the gates looking to capitalize on their size and they were able to, as Baba Miller hit his first 4 shots from the field on drives to the rim, however after that Charleston adjusted and FAU was unable to respond fast enough and it led to a 14-0 run that saw the Cougars stretch their lead to double digits.
FAU used a small ball lineup led by Tre Carroll and Kaleb Glenn to spark a 10-2 run over the final few minutes of the first half to cut the deficit to only 2 at halftime and when the Owls responded to Charleston adjustments in this one was when they succeeded. After falling behind again by double figures 10 minutes into the half, FAU went small and used consistent three point shooting and explosive plays from Kaleb Glenn to stay in the game and ultimately tie and force overtime.
Coming out of the gates with energy hasn’t been an issue so far for FAU, however when UCF and Charleston adjusted and slowed the game down, they fought back into the game and built double digit leads. FAU made slight adjustments between UCF on Tuesday and this matchup and it led to success at times, but going forward Jakus knows they have to get that success out of different lineups and more consistently.
“Early on we thought a Baba Matas ball screen was something they couldn’t guard, and they clearly struggled with that. Then they changed and went small. And I think what you’re seeing now in college basketball is people have a big lineup and a small lineup, and so you you come in with game plans, and we’ve clearly won the first 10 minutes of halves, and the plans that happened initially are the right ones, and then in the middle of the halves, they make adjustments, and our guys have to respond to the adjustments coming out of time out, and I’ll take credit for that. That’s something we got to get better at. And then once we finally found the right thing, we improved. And if you saw the lineup that we closed with, with Nico, KyKy, Kaleb, Baba and Ken when he wasn’t fouled out, clearly, we found something there. And those guys were listening and playing defense. So we’re going to have to go deeper than those five on the defensive end, and it’s our job to help kids get better,” Jakus said.
FAU has a quick turnaround following their double ot loss, as they will matchup with Liberty tomorrow night in a game where their will-power will be tested, facing off against a Flames team who will be well rested bringing in their hard nosed defense. On a positive note heading into a matchup with a smaller Liberty squad is that the Owls won the rebound battle 39-37 over Charleston and won points in the paint 52-40.
A lot of offensive success for FAU outside of their 3 point shooting on their ability to finish strongly at the rim. Nico Moretti was a big part of that, finishing with 17 points off the bench, getting 8 of those 17 at the free throw line from drives to the rim that drew fouls. It wasn’t just Moretti however, it was also Kaleb Glenn who was ferocious near the rim, driving strong but also finishing off some high flying alley-oops and at times Baba Miller and Tre Carroll who at times provided an offensive spark.
In their next matchup against Liberty, the Owls will have the consistent size advantage to dominate the paint once again and if they can get 3-point shooting at a rate they did in this one, it will be hard for Liberty to match offensively. However, Liberty comes into this matchup well rested and their pesky defense could potentially cause FAU problems, which makes it important the Owls find consistency in their offense rather than spurts.
“There is no recovery in this tournament like last year, Dusty got the home game and then rested today, and then the home game, and then I got the two back to back road games. So it’s just what it is. We got to play Liberty tomorrow, as much as today was up and down, that’s an unbelievable defensive team. Richie is a friend, a brother. I really care about him, and it’s going to be one heck of a game,” Jakus said.
It will be an important game as the Owls have now dropped 2 in a row for the first time in over 2 years and it will come against a Liberty team which will give FAU everything they can handle. This will be a true test of FAU’s offense, as Liberty brings intensity to the table and although they lack firepower offensively, if they can slow FAU down this game could become a battle.
As for the game with Charleston, a loss once again isn’t the end of the world as there is a chance this works out to be a loss to an NCAA tournament team. The Owls will need to address their defensive issues as soon as possible, as it has cost them against 2 very good opponents, which is manageable, however these issues could seriously hurt them down the stretch and they will need to figure them out.
Previous in-game recap
U 16 timeout
The Owls came out of the gates with energy for the second straight game, as Ken Evans Jr hit FAU’s first 3 of the game on the first possession and then stole it from Charleston on the next possession and found Vokietaitis in transition for a slam to go up 5-0 quickly.
Baba Miller took over from there, hitting 3 straight buckets, running the offense and attacking the hoop, and following the 3rd, FAU led 14-7 with 16:45 to play. A few possessions later, Max Langenfeld who was making his second appearance of the season cashed in on a triple to give the Owls a 17-9 lead heading into the U16 timeout.
U12 timeout
Baba Miller made his 4th straight shot out of the break to jolt the Owls lead to double digits, however Charleston fought back. Charleston went on a 7-2 run over the next 2 minutes, getting 5 from Jaxon Pruitt which forced an FAU timeout with 12:40 to go. Derrin Boyd who was making his season debut cashed in from 3 with 11:35 to go which was the score heading into the U12 timeout. Charleston was slow to start but got multiple players involved and found their offense after a slow start.
U 8 timeout
The Owls got a quick bucket out of the U12 timeout from Kaleb Glenn who has been a spark plug off the bench this season and KyKy Tandy followed him up with a layup off a drive to the hoop, however Charleston was quick to respond. The Cougars went on a 7-0 run, getting 5 of them from Brzovic and forced an FAU timeout with 8:53 to play. Ken Evans Jr came out of a timeout with a triple and Aj Smith hit a pair of free throws which made the score 30-29 heading into the U-8 timeout.
U 4 timeout
Out of the U8 timeout, Charleston went to work as they got back to back triples from Boyd and Cj Fulton and 8 straight points from Brzovic which capped off a 14-0 run which saw Charleston take their largest lead of the game, 43-31 with 5:05 to play. FAU responded with a 5-0 run from Tre Carroll and Kaleb Glenn which saw them cut the lead back down to single digits and it was a 9 point game, 45-36 heading into the U4 timeout.
Final 4
FAU closed the final 4 strongly, getting an 11-3 run with 7 of them from Tre Carroll and Charleston took a 49-47 lead heading into the break. Despite their 14-0 run allowed to Charleston, FAU was within 2 and this game was a battle that everyone expected heading into it.
U16 2H timeout
FAU came into the second half with momentum from their strong end to the first as KyKy Tandy stole it away from Cj Fulton and went coast to coast to tie the game at 49 and the teams traded buckets to keep it within a score, however Charleston was still getting open looks from at 3. After FAU tied it at 53 with 17:19 to play, Derrin Boyd cashed in on an open corner triple and a few possessions Cj Fulton converted on an open corner look to carry a 59-54 COFC lead into the break.
U12 2h timeout
This continued to be a closely contested battle and the Owls offense was responding to a barrage on the other end as Charleston started the first second half 6 of 9 from the field. FAU was struggling, shooting 6 of 16 through the first 8 minutes, however a Tre Carroll triple brought it back within 2 with 12:43 to play, however Charleston responded on the next possession and Charleston took a 67-63 lead into the U12 timeout.
U8 Media timeout
Charleston went on a run out of the U12 timeout, as they quickly went on an 8-0 run to jolt their lead to 75-63 with 9:51 remaining. Their lead hovered around double digits for the next few minutes, however the Owls got a string of 3 straight triples from Leland Walker, Tre Carroll, and Kaleb Glenn which made the score 79-72 heading into the U8 media timeout.
U4 media timeout
These teams were trading blows and Charleston came out with a 6-0 run out of the U8 timeout to jolt the lead back up to 13, 82-75, with 6:47 to play. The lead continued to hold in Charleston’s favor however another quick 4-0 spark from Miller and Glenn brought the deficit back to single digits, 89-82, heading into the U4 timeout.
Final 4
It was do or die time, trailing by 7 with less than 4 minutes remaining and the Owls went to work. The Owls started with a quick 7-1 run in just over a minute and following a Nico Moretti grille with 2:52 to play the lead was cut to 2, 91-89. Ante Brzovic hit back to back buckets to jolt the lead back to 6, however Ken Evans hit a clutch triple from the right wing to cut it back to 3, 95-92 with 1:30 to play.
It became a bit of a free throw show after that, as Nico Moretti was fouled on back to back drives to the rim and hit on 3 of 4 free throws to even the game at 95 with 28 seconds to go. Derrin Boyd converted on a pair on the next possession to regain the lead for Charleston, however Moretti was fouled once again on the ensuing possession and hit both free throws to tie it at 97 and send it into overtime.
1st overtime
Both sides were trading blows to start overtime, as Derrin Boyd converted on a second chance layup to start things and Ken Evans responded with a tough layup on the other end and it continued from there. After Charleston took a 3 point lead with 45 seconds remaining and looked to have grabbed a hold of momentum, Evans Jr went down and hit another triple on the ensuing possession to tie it at 105 with 40 seconds to go. That would be the final bucket of the 1st overtime as each team traded misses which meant 5 more minutes of free Basketball.
2nd overtime
The Owls started off the second overtime with a ferocious alley-Oop with Kaleb Glenn on the receiving end, however Charleston did not let that phase them and quickly responded. The Owls got the lead up to 4 after Kaleb Glenn scored 4 straight, however Ante Brzovic responded with 6 straight of his own to regain the Charleston lead, 116-114, with 9 seconds remaining.
FAU went down quickly, getting a quick Moretti bucket as he ran the length of the court and converted at the rim with 3 seconds remaining to even the game at 116. On the next possession, disaster struck for FAU, as Brzovic took it off of the inbounds and hit a long 3 pointer over KyKy Tandy who contested well, but to no avail as Brzovic converted on the buzzer beater, sealing a 119-116 victory for Charleston.