Jarvis picks up 400th on Court Win as Owls snap Mean Greens 17 game home win streak When icy conditions in the Dallas Fort-Worth area forced flight changes to yesterdays travel schedule, FAU had to add a four hour bus ride to their schedule; making for a thirteen hour journey and a late arrival to their destination. For some squads that might have mattered. Not for the Owls. So far, Florida Atlantic has made a habit of establishing new program marks, and breaking opponents existing ones, during the 2010-11 season. Tonight would be no different, as FAU (17-7, 9-1) downed North Texas 72-55 at the Super Pit in Denton, TX, handing Coach Mike Jarvis his 400th on the court win. A fantastic victory, said Jarvis afterwards. The Mean Green had won all four prior contests at home against the upbeat Owls, only to see their 17 game win streak at home come to an end. Most impressive, it came without a significant front court contribution as starters Brett Royster and Kore White combined for just eight points on the evening due to foul trouble. No worries though as bench play, lead by Dennis Mavins 13 points, picked up the slack. When you practice the way Dennis has and you care as much about the game that he does good things happen to you, Jarvis said of Mavins performance. Moreover, Florida Atlantic held the home teams second leading scorer Josh White (14.4 ppg) to just a single point, while dominating on the glass, and outpacing the Mean Green 38-20 in the paint. Ironically, the smallest player on the court, Ray Taylor (17 points), led FAU with a team high seven boards. North Texas (16-7, 5-5) trailed 37-27 at halftime as the Owls cashed in on 10 first half turnovers. I told the guys we traveled almost fourteen hours to get here were up by ten at halftime, lets go out and try to play 20 minutes of basketball, said Jarvis. UNT did make matters interesting by cutting a 15 point lead to just three points on a couple of occasions in the second period. But each time Mavin came up with big baskets, keeping FAU on top before they pulled away in double digit fashion to a 14-0 close. It got a little tight for a while, but the guys character came through, Jarvis said. If weve got the ball and were in the lead coming down the stretch, I really expect to win, The game saw a lot of contact, with the two teams combining for 49 personals. Greg Gantt (15) and Alex Tucker (10) were also in double figures for Florida Atlantic, who moved away from three point attempts in comparison to recent games with only nine. The Owls return to FAU Arena on Saturday hosting Florida International at 8:00 p.m. The game will be televised on the Sun Belt Network (CSS). Box Score Game Discussion
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