The quarterfinal round of the AAC tournament is upon us and 4th seeded Tulane will face off against 5th seeded FAU, who defeated Charlotte in round 2 a day ago. This is the second matchup of the season between these two squads, with FAU losing to Tulane back on January 15th, a game that the Owls led in the second half before a late collapse allowed Tulane to win easily.
The Owls will use the same starting lineup as they did against Charlotte, as they look to have a bounce-back shooting performance, while Tulane looks to advance to the Semi-Final round heading into this matchup well rested off a bye.
Stay tuned for game updates as this game progresses.
1H First 4-
Both sides started out red hot from the field, as the Owls hit 5 of their first 10 shots, getting 8 points and 4 rebounds from Matas Vokietaitis, however Tulane was 4 of their first 8, including 2 of 2 on threes and heading into the U16 timeout with 11-10 with 15:03 to play.
1H U12 timeout-
The back and forth battle continued over the next few minutes, with FAU going on a 4-1 run out of the U16, getting a triple from Kyky Tandy to give them a 15-12 lead with 14:07 to play, however that would be the last made field goal for FAU for nearly 3 minutes. Tulane was able to get a 7-2 run over the next few minutes, holding the Owls to only 2 free throws from Baba Miller and heading into the u12 Tulane was holding a 19-17 lead with 11:08 to play.
1H U8 timeout-
The Owls field goal drought reached nearly 4 minutes, as Tulane’s run expanded to 11-2 and their lead was 6, 27-23 with 9:42 to play, however FAU was able to respond. The Owls went on a run over the next few minutes, FAU scored back to back buckets to head into the U8 timeout, trailing only by 2, 23-21 with 7:44 to play.
1H U4 timeout-
That 4-0 run heading into the U8 expanded to a 12-0 run over the next few minutes, as FAU got back to back triples from Kaleb Glenn and another from Leland walker to make it 32-25 with 4:58 to play, however Tulane scored 4 straight to make it 32-29 Owls heading into the U4 timeout with 2:35 to play.
1H Final 4-
The Owls offense was ice cold down the stretch and Tulane capitalized, expanding their 4-0 run to go into the U4 to a 12-0 run, as Banks and Brumbaugh hit back to back triples and heading into half the FAU offense was without a point for 4 minutes 58 seconds and Tulane was holding a 37-32 advantage.
Halftime thoughts-
FAU did good and bad things during the first half, as the offense flowed at times getting 11 assists on 14 made field goals, however the offense was sporadic and it allowed Tulane to take control heading into half. The Owls got another strong performance from Matas Vokietaitis, scoring 11 down low, but with the Green Wave offense flourishing, FAU needs to find an answer to their inconsistencies in the second half.
2H First 4-
A back and forth battle continued early into the second half, which didn’t favor FAU, as both sides started 50% from the field and FAU was unable to cut into the Green Wave lead. Heading into the U16 timeout, FAU was trailing 47-41 with 15:24 and Tulane was controlling the flow of the game.
2H U12 timeout-
The back and forth battle continued over the next few minutes, as FAU was able to get 8 points from Devin Vanterpool, however Tulane responded to each FAU bucket and heading into the U12 timeout, Tulane was still holding a 57-51 with 11:44 to play.