Florida Atlantic Men’s basketball had their 5 game win-streak come to a crashing halt Thursday night against Wichita State. Although Kramer was in attendance for Seinfeld night, the Owls fell to the Shockers 75-68 in a game where Wichita State asserted their physicality and led for a majority of the game.
The Owls lost the rebound battle 37-29 on Thursday and it was only their second time losing the rebound race since January 5th and at times FAU had no answer for the Shockers interior presence. Not only did the Shockers hurt FAU in the rebounding battle, they also won points in the paint 34-28, while also shooting 60% from beyond the arc compared to FAU’s 34% and it seemed as if the Shockers had an answer for any FAU run tonight.
Whether it was points in the paint or just overall physicality, Wichita had FAU’s number tonight and it was the first time in quite a while where the Owls had no answer for their opponents paint presence. According to FAU Coach John Jakus, Wichita State deserves credit for their effort tonight and he notes that their physicality gave FAU serious issues.
“You have to give them credit. They did a good job. They’ve won, five in a row now. So we had the longest win streak in the league. They took that from us, but I think some of it we did to ourselves. The second half, there was moments where their physicality and transition, or getting back or in protection, was valid, and the first half I don’t know how valid, it was I’m gonna have to watch the film I think some of it was self inflicted,” Jakus said.
Nico Moretti sets up for defense. Photo Angelina LaBelle.
FAU found themselves trailing by 8 at halftime, as Wichita State asserted their physicality and although the Owls fought back and took the lead in the second half, their execution down the stretch faltered and the Shockers took advantage. The Owls missed multiple free throws over the final few minutes and that combined with turnovers allowed for WSU to close the door on FAU’s 5 game win streak.
The key during FAU’s win streak has been their ability to find ways to win and a big part of that has been their mental fortitude that helped them pull out victories in late game scenarios. Tonight they lacked that late game ability, as whether it was free throw line struggles, rebounding, or ball control, the Shockers found ways to frustrate the FAU offense.
This was the first time in quite a while where FAU was tested physically and they did not pass, leaving cause for concern heading into a weekend matchup against Memphis. According to Jakus, the mistakes didn’t create momentum for Wichita, however the lack of mental toughness was truly detrimental in the outcome tonight.
“I don’t know about momentum, but certainly big moments. And there’s a mental toughness to remembering to control the glass. I thought there was three free throws that were key, but I would say I know we only had six turnovers, but three of them in transition in that last five to eight minutes, those were really costly ones. So just loose with the ball. One hand passes being flippant, not running in space, but running too close to each other. The free throws were part of it, but I thought the turnovers in transition were equally bad,” Jakus said.
Ken Evans, Jr comes around a screen from Matas Vokietaitis. Photo Angelina LaBelle.
FAU was led tonight once again by Kaleb Glenn (photo top via Angelina LaBelle), who finished with 16 points and he was joined by Tre Carroll, Ken Evans Jr. and Leland Walker who all finished with 11, giving the Owls another diverse scoring effort. Although FAU got scoring across the board, a majority of it came in the second half and the Owls slow start left them unable to come back late.
The Owls now have a quick turnaround, as they will head to Memphis for a Sunday afternoon tip-off against the first seed Tigers. According to Kaleb Glenn, the message after the game was to keep pushing forward as the 1 pm tip will be here sooner than later.
“Keep our heads up. Get some sleep, because we have a quick turnaround. We play Sunday at one o’clock, so we have to turn the page and just keep going,” Glenn said.
