What: FAU vs Temple
When: Sunday, February 16th, 12:00 PM
Where: The Liacouras Center, Philadelphia PA
Series: Even 1-1
TV: ESPN 2
Radio: Fox 640
Live Stats: Stats broadcast
Line: TBA
Ken Pom Prediction: FAU 82 Temple 81
Owls at a Glance
Offense – 81.3 PPG, 46.9% FG, 36% 3PT
Defense – 76.0 PPGA, 43.2% FGA, 38.2% 3PTA
Rebounding – 37.1 RPG Owls, 36.5 RPG Opponents
FAU Notes
Florida Atlantic MBB is back in action Sunday afternoon as the Owls head to Philadelphia for a battle with Temple. The Owls come into this game red-hot, having won four in a row all by double figures and they will look to continue that against a Temple team which lost their last game to Tulsa at home.
It has been a quick turnaround for FAU, as the Owls came into this 4 game stretch struggling with inconsistencies on both ends of the court, however over their last 4 they have found ways to win in dominating fashion backed by improvements across the board. The biggest improvement has been in their offensive consistency, shooting above 50% in each of their last 4 games and on the defensive side of things, while not every game has featured lockdown perimeter defense, they have improved, and when they were struggling with three-point defense they found other ways to limit their opponent, like forcing 16 turnovers against Charlotte.
Overall on the year, the Owls have been an efficient offensive squad, currently top 100 in the nation in effective field goal percentage (54.2%, 56th), turnover percentage (16.1%, 90th), three-point percentage (35.9%, 82nd), two-point percentage (54.4%, 73rd) and assists per field goal made (57.2%, 68th). The only real struggles at times for FAU has been their free throw shooting (71.1%, 217th) and offensive rebound percentage (29.8%, 188th), however both have been trending upward lately, with the Owls getting much stronger play from their bigs, both at the line and on the glass recently.
On the defensive side of things, the Owls paint defense continues to be top tier, as on two-point looks teams are shooting 46.5% which is 32nd in the nation and although their three-point defense has been a struggle this year, their allowed percentage from beyond the arc has improved over the past 4 games and for the first time during conference play they are out of the bottom 4 in allowed three-point percentage, currently sitting at 355th, allowing 38.4% from deep. Along with their perimeter defense improving, FAU has also gotten better rebounding and have forced more turnovers, currently forcing a takeaway 17.5% of the time which is 184th and they only allow offensive rebounds 31.4% of the time which is 261st.
In terms of scoring, Kaleb Glenn and Tre Carroll continue to sit atop the score column, averaging 12.6 and 12 points per game respectively, while Baba Miller and Kyky Tandy are behind them, averaging 11.3 and 10 points per game. The key for FAU over their past 4 games was their ability to get scoring outside of the top 4 and although Glenn, Miller, Carroll and Tandy all have had good games during the win streak, they haven’t had to depend on one single player.
Temple is going to be a tough opponent, as despite their loss to Tulsa they have normally been a very competitive team at home and during the first few weeks of AAC play the Owls looked to be a contender for a top 2 seed. Offensively, FAU has to continue to get the early offense which has helped them take control of games and if they can combine that with perimeter defense that continues to improve, this is a winnable game, but they will have to hit their shots and limit Jamal Mashburn.
Philly Owls at a glance
Offense – 80.5 PPG, 45.1% FG, 36.8% 3PT
Defense – 78.5 PPGA, 44.5% FGA, 34.4% 3PTA
Rebounding – 37.2 RPG Owls, 35.8RPG Opponents
Temple Notes
Temple heads into this matchup at 14-11 overall, however they are riding a 1 game skid following their first home loss of the season, an 80-74 loss to Tulsa on Wednesday. It has been an up and down affair for the Philly Owls this season, as although they finished their non-con slate 8-5, they had multiple losses outside the net top 100 and that trend continued from there, with the Owls defeating Memphis in AAC play, but also losing to ECU, UTSA and now Tulsa.
The loss to Tulsa was a step back from their recent success, as for the first time since January 25th they were held to under 80 points and for only the 6th time this season were they held under 30% from beyond the arc. Although Tulsa didn’t have an offensive barrage of their own, their 80 points was more than enough due to the lackluster performance from Temple and if the Philly Owls put out another offensive performance similar to the one they had against Tulsa they may be in trouble against FAU.
On the offensive side of things, Temple has been fairly solid this season, currently with a top 30 three-point percentage (36.3%, 68th), top 10 free throw rate (44.2%, 10th) and they are hovering around top 100 in turnover percentage (16.3%, 105th) and offensive rebound percentage (32.5%, 104th). The struggles offensively for Temple outside of consistency, comes from their interior struggles and poor ball movement, as they are currently 280th in the nation in two-point percentage at 48.4% and have an assist to FG made ratio of 40.4% which is 359th.
Defensively, it hasn’t been as successful of a year for Temple as they currently are outside the top 100 in the country in, turnover percentage forced (15.8%, 282nd), offensive rebounds allowed (31.4%, 260th), three-point percentage allowed (34%, 195th) and two-point percentage allowed (50.6%, 166th). Outside of limiting teams from shooting perimeter shots (currently 117th in the country in 3PA/FGA at 37.2%) there really hasn’t been many strengths for the Philly Owls defensively and their inability to limit teams from moving the ball (currently allowing an A/FGM of 54.1% which is 238th) is something that could potentially allow the FAU offense to find their rhythm.
Overall on the year, Temple has been led by Jamal Mashburn Jr who is averaging 22 points per game and the New Mexico transfer should be fully healthy for the FAU game on Sunday after missing time with a foot injury. Outside of Mashburn, Steve Settle, Zion Stanford and Quante Berry are all averaging around 11 points per game and for Temple to bounce back against FAU the Philly Owls could use a scoring outburst from all 4 of their top scorers.
This game has the makings of a true battle, as Temple has the offense to keep up with FAU, however they have to find a way to tap into that offensive potential because they were unable to against Tulsa and it cost them. If this game turns into a shootout, that would favor Temple on their home court, however if their offense isn’t up to par and they have to try to slow down FAU with a lackluster defense, the Boca Owls may walk into Philly and steal a win.