FAU heads to North Texas for a pivotal AAC road battle, a game in which the Owls would like an upset to ignite a win streak. UNT is undefeated at home however and they have looked every part of the second best team in the American this season which will make this a difficult challenge, but one FAU can overcome. (Cover Photo of Baba Miller via FAU Athletics)
Both teams will counter with the same starting lineups they have ran with as of recently. Stay tuned below for live updates as the game progresses.
First 4-
Early on a physical battle was developing, as FAU forced a miss and grabbed a rebound on the first possession of the game and Baba Miller beat the shot clock with a physical back to the basket lay in to take an early 2-0 lead. UNT responded with a Jasper Floyd layup at the rim which counted due to gold tending and the see-saw battle developed from there. After UNT grabbed a 5-2 lead, Tre Carroll responded with a mid range jumper and heading into U16 timeout with 15:27 to play UNT was leading 5-4 and both sides were 2/6 from the field.
U12 timeout-
Out of the U16 timeout, Brenen Lorient split a pair of free throws and however Grant Newell got the board and found Jonathan Massie who converted to give UNT a 8-4 lead right out of the U16. The Owls responded with an 8-0 run, getting an and-1 from Matas Vokietaitis and triple from Kaleb Glenn, along with a drive to the hoop from Nico Moretti and the Owls jumped out to a 12-8 lead with 12:53 to play. UNT responded with 2 buckets down low, however Kaleb Glenn had an answer of his own with 5 straight, giving him 8 points off the bench early and heading into the U12 timeout FAU held a 17-12 lead with 9:44 to play and the Owls were outscoring the Mean Green 13-3 off the bench.
U8 timeout-
UNT responded with 4 quick points out of the U12 timeout, however once again the Owls had an early response as KyKy Tandy hit back to back triples, joining Kaleb Glenn with an early consecutive pair, and the Owls jumped out to a 23-16 lead with 7:18 to play heading into the U8 timeout. North Texas headed into the game as a top 40 3 point shooting team in the country, however early on UNT only had one triple attempted through the first 12 minutes and change.
U4 timeout-
The Owls extended their run to 11-0 out of the U8 timeout as Baba Miller hit a triple and Carroll hit a pair of technical free throws and with 4:18 to play the Owls jumped out to an early 28-16 lead. The Mean Green ended that streak with a triple from Atin Wright, however backed by strong defense which led to 31% from the field and 25% from 3 for the Mean Green, along with 5 turnovers, and heading into the U4 timeout with 3:07 to play FAU was holding a 28-19 lead.
Final 4-
UNT began to cut into their deficit, getting 3 straight out of the U4 to make it 28-22 with 2:35 to play. Kaleb Glenn split a pair of free throws for FAU on the ensuing possession while Baba Miller hit a triple, however UNT responded with a triple from Atin Wright and bucket at the rim from Latrell Jossell, which made it 32-27 with 16 seconds remaining. The Owls drew up a play and got Kaleb Glenn a lane to the rim and he converted at the buzzer, giving the Owls a 34-27 lead heading into the half.
Halftime thoughts-
The Owls were excelling on both ends of the court early on, as they were frustrating UNT at times by forcing them to only 5 3-point attempts and also 5 turnovers, while on the other end of the court FAU had 48% from the field and 50% from 3, while also assisting on 7 out 12 possessions. UNT was doing what they do, forcing 7 turnovers, however their perimeter defense was struggling and their offense was lacking which led to an early deficit.
First 4-
A back and forth battle ensued out of halftime as both sides attacked the paint with relative success, however neither side was able to string together defensive stops. A combined 12 out the 15 points for the two teams came from inside the paint, during the first 4 minutes however the Owls were still maintaining a 42-34 lead with 15:52 to play heading into the U16 timeout.
U12 timeout-
The Mean Green came out of the U16 with a burst of energy as they went on a 6-0 run, grabbing an offensive rebound and forcing a FAU turnover and after 3 tough buckets down low John Jakus was forced into a timeout with UNT closing in, trailing 42-40 with 14:46 to play. Both sides continued to trade buckets back and forth, however UNT hit 3 triples in a 2 minute stretch, while FAU responded with tough buckets down low and heading into the U12 timeout with 11:40 to play the game was deadlocked at 48.
U8 timeout-
Things began to slip away from FAU out of the U12 timeout, as UNT went on a 7-2 run to grab a 55-50 lead with 9:19 to play. Atin Wright scored 4 more for FAU and the Owls were only able to counter with a bucket from Kaleb Glenn and heading into the U8 timeout with 7:59 to play UNT was holding a 59-52 lead. After a fairly clean first half, the Owls had 5 turnovers in the first 12 minutes and it allowed UNT to take control of the game early in the second half.
U4 timeout-
Not much changed and it actually got worse for FAU over the next 4 minutes, as after a 4-0 run from FAU, the Mean Green responded with a 6-0 run of their own, getting 3 consecutive buckets down low and heading into the U4 timeout with 3:50 to play the Mean Green were fully in control leading 66-56.
Final 4-
Not much changed over the final 4 minutes, as FAU was converting offensively, but so was UNT and specifically Brenen Lorient who scored 8 in a row for the Mean Green, sealing the deal on a dominating victory. The Owls fought to cut it to single digits, however UNT closed the door with a 4-0 run, going on to win 77-64.