Basketball in paradise started out with a bang, as the Owls dominated in their first home opener of the Jakus Era defeating Coastal Georgia 99-49. It was a true showing of what this team is capable of when they are firing on all cylinders, as they finished with 5 players in double figures and got 50 bench points, also reaching their goal of 30 3’s attempted, finishing 16 of 42 from downtown. The team was backed by a raucous atmosphere, which featured a sold out student section that brought the energy this team needed to deliver a thrilling victory in their first regular season game of the year at home.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Owls, as they started 1 of 8 from 3 on the day and found themselves trailing 9-7 early in the game, however in similar fashion to their 35-10 run against Indiana State they finished the 1st half in this one on a 44-13 run in this one, taking a 51-20 lead into the locker room at half and never looking back. The Owls offense came alive shortly after they fell behind, getting consecutive triples from Ken Evans Jr and Kaleb Glenn regaining the lead 13-9 with 12:18 to play. Things really began to turn in the Owls favor with 7:24 remaining, as CGU was hanging around, trailing 24-15, however Tre Carroll brought the energy back into the arena with back-to-back-to-back buckets, extending the Owls lead to 30-15 with 5:56 remaining and from there, they took off.
Ken Evans Jr and Kaleb Glenn led the way with 18 points with Evans cashing in on 6 triples and Glenn converting on 3, while Tre Carroll chipped in 14, hitting his lone 3 point attempt of the day. It was another diverse scoring attack for FAU in this one, as outside of those 3, KyKy Tandy finished with 12, while Matas Vokietaitis finished with 10 and the Owls finished with 7 players scoring 5 or more. That type of bench effort, along with FAU finding their stroke from 3 after early struggles is what John Jakus believes led them to success in this one and something they will look to capitalize on from here.
“I would say we probably had a little change. We started picking up full court, and then, you know, you start one of eight from three, and you overreact a little, and then you make eight of your next 10, and everybody’s fine. So making shots helped, but I thought there was a section there where we went to the bench, and our hope is that our bench in the future would be one of the best bench scoring teams in the country. So we got some of that tonight. We’re thankful for that. And I thought they got us going, Jakus said.
The diverse scoring was key to the Owls domination in this one, however after Coastal Georgia started out the game with a bit of success offensively, the Owls shut them down and capitalized on it. FAU forced 24 turnovers off 17 steals on the day, scoring 24 points off of those turnovers and doing what they should against an NAIA opponent.
The Owls also used their size to their advantage on both ends of the court in this one, winning the defensive rebound battle 34-26 and what really was a key factor in this one was winning the offensive rebound battle 19-1, finishing with 22 second chance points. Although it was against a non-ncaa opponent, dominating the offensive glass in the way that FAU requires an aggressive mindset to go get those boards and if FAU can maintain that as the season goes on that will help this team immensely.
Not only do those rebounds extend possessions, they improve the offense as a whole as it gives confidence to shooters knowing whether they make or miss, there is still a chance the possession turns positive. Jakus understands this and knows if his team performs like this consistently, they will be in a good position.
“We’re plus 26 on the glass, I think it was 19 to 1 on the offensive glass. So when you have an opportunity, especially with as many threes as we’re trying to shoot, if you can go get half your misses, which I think we were right about today, then you’re in a good spot. So part of our chaos or running is not irresponsible. It’s just the belief that if we’re a good offensive rebounding team, we can trust the shots even more,” Jakus said.
Trust was in the air tonight for the Owls, as after Nico Moretti’s big first game scoring wise in game one, he stepped into a facilitators role in this one, finishing with 8 assists and only 7 points, trusting his teammates to step into the scoring role. Baba Miller finished with 13 points and was perfect from the field in game one, however today he missed all 5 of his shots from the field, but rather than letting it phase him he found other ways to impact the game, finishing with 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
FAU ran with a 6 man rotation off the bench tonight, as Max Langenfeld the 6’6 German recruit made his season debut adding another valuable rotational piece to this Owls squad. Langenfeld slid right into his role, playing only 3 total minutes, however finishing with 3 points 5 rebounds, 2 offensive, and a steal, maximizing his productivity in only a short amount of time.
The Owls ability to have players who stuffed the score column in game one take a step back and find other ways to impact the game, while also adding a new player to the rotation and him finding success in a limited role goes back to their ability to unify as a group quickly this offseason. Tre Carroll, who has taken on not only a leadership role with this squad, but also an involved role on the court believes a showing like tonight is just an example of the love that this team has for each other, however they were also fueled by the love that the FAU community has for them.
“Oh, it was great (the atmosphere), feeding off the energy the crowd gives is so important to us and this team loves each other, and no matter who puts the ball in the hoop who we just love to put more points on the board than the other team,” Carroll said.
The energy that Carroll mentioned was the driving factor behind a lot of the success FAU has had at home over the past 2 years and tonight that same intensity was brought, showing the world that the atmosphere that so many have played a part in building is here to stay. Eleanor R Baldwin Arena may not be the biggest gym in the world, however FAU has turned that into an advantage, as the schools student led spirit organization, “The Prowlers” have overhauled the student section over the past 2 years to a point where they bring so much energy it impacts the game.
Coastal Georgia finished 8 of 16 from the free throw line, giving FAU fans in attendance a Dunkin gift card after Jamill Giles missed a pair of free throws, however it is hard to blame him as the FAU swim and dive team conducted a Crowd Surf right behind the backboard, next to a flock of FAU students dressed in flamingo costumes. The atmosphere at the ‘Elly is something that transfer players notice when deciding to come to FAU and Ken Evans Jr who spent the first 4 years of his career at Jackson State said he was excited for tonight and fed off that atmosphere to convert on 6 triples, finishing with 18 points.
“I was just feeding off the energy the crowd brought in the packed out arena. I was excited to play in front of the crowd, and my teammates just kept finding me time after time,” Evans Jr. said.
The Owls have now dominated their first 2 matchups of the season, getting a diverse scoring attack in both matchups and they now sit at 90 bench points across 2 games. When they put this squad together this offseason, there was no question of the talent that was brought in but with so much talent there is potential for players not wanting to accept their role, and so for this season that has not been an issue for FAU.
After 2 games, Jakus is left with a bit of relief knowing that his guys have trusted the process and bought into the team first mantra and what he has learned the most is that his players have accepted their roles and are working to find different ways to impact the game outside of scoring.
“I think we’re just trying to figure out how to handle our depth, and you have to be okay with that. The thing I probably learned about them most is they seem to be okay with it. So we’ve made it clear that in the first two months, we want at least nine different guys to get to the podium. And last game, it was Nico and Baba, and today it was Tre and Ken. So we’re already two games in. We have four different guys. So as long as they buy into that culture of sharing, then we’re great. And that’s probably the thing I’m most excited about. And what our staff has learned about them, is they’re really willing to be okay with that. Five guys in double figures this game, I believe, six last game. So that’s great,” Jakus said.
Now sitting at 2-0, the Owls can be happy knowing that so far it looks as if the team has bought into everything that was instituted this offseason and on the court they have found success in a variety of different areas. So far they have been successful, however they will be tested against a quality opponent on the road in UCF during their next matchup on Tuesday.
Heading into that matchup, Jakus knows there are things that have to be cleaned up, as despite the Owls success in their first 2 matchups UCF will bring a lot to the table that both Indiana State and Coastal Georgia did not. The Knights also check into this matchup at 2-0, with a win over #13 Texas A&M and Jakus believes spacing and defensive rotations are 2 things FAU has to iron out before their next one.
“I think there’s things about our defense that can get better. We’ve got to get to the point that we can contest some more shots. There’s some times where at Indiana State, they were missing some twos that will be a dunk against somebody else. And there’s some jump shots today that we didn’t get to that maybe they missed, but there’ll be makes in the future. So probably some defensive rotations is something we have to clean up. And then offensively, it just seems like, for some reason, they get the spacing we want to play in for about 20 to 22 minutes of the game, and we need to find that 35 minutes of the game where they’re not running into each other, and they can make their reads. So it’s very early. We’ve got a lot to work on, and the worst thing we could do is settle right now,” Jakus said.
The Owls indeed cannot settle, as they will have 3 off days before being back in action on Tuesday against UCF in Orlando, an early season battle which could give the winner a boost to their NCAA tournament resume. As for tonight’s matchup, there is a lot to like for the Owls, especially their ability to have different players lead in scoring and now heading into the grind of the non-conference schedule, they have to figure out how to bottle up the success they had in the first 2 games and continue it forward.
Previous in-game updates
1st Half 16 minute timeout
The game started slowly for the Owls, as they only hit one of their first 8 field goals, a Ken Evans Jr 3 pointer, while Matas Vokietaitis hit a pair of free throws on the first possession of the game.
Coastal Georgia is coming off their best defensive performance of the season and it was showing early, forcing a pair of Owls turnovers and not giving up many open baskets early. A Thaddeus Barnes triple off a turnover gave CGU a 7-5 lead with 15:18 to play and forced the Owls into an early timeout, trailing vs an 0-3 Coastal Georgia team.
1st Half 12 minute timeout
FAU came out of their timeout with a few lineup changes, as Tre Carroll, Kaleb Glenn and Nico Moretti all checked in and it gave the Owls a bit of a spark, although they were still colder than expected. Carroll immediately got the Owls a second chance bucket evening up the game at 7 out of the timeout, and a Ken Evans triple on the next possession gave the Owls a bit of energy, and a few plays later Kaleb Glenn cashed in from 3, giving the Owls a 13-9 lead with 12:18 to play. CGU went into the U12 timeout failing to score for the last 2 minutes, however the Owls were shooting 4 of 15 and kept the Mariners in the game.
1st Half 8 minute timeout
Coastal Georgia hit a pair of free throws out of the break to bring it within one possession, however Kaleb Glenn and KyKy Tandy went on a 6-0 run of their own, to give FAU a boost of momentum and jolt the lead to 19-11 with 9:34 to play. CGU used a pair of D’Ontaye Stawter buckets to bring it within 5, 20-15, which was our score heading into the U8 timeout.
FAU began to run away with their 6-0 run, however Coastal Georgia was pesky and stayed around, playing with intensity on both ends of the court and FAU was unable to get an early kill shot.
1st Half U4 timeout
Things began to shift, and in a big way out of the U8 timeout. Baba Miller converted on a pair of free throws out of the break, and Nico Moretti combined with Tre Carroll for 8 straight points, which jolted the lead to 30-15 with 5:56 to play.
FAU wasn’t done there, as Evans Jr and Carroll hit back to back 3’s, and Leland Walker chipped in 5 and all of a sudden, the Owls were on a 21-4 run leading 41-19 into the U4 timeout with 2:56 to play.
Final 4
KyKy Tandy came out of the U4 timeout with a triple to continue the Owls momentum and a possesion later, Kaleb Glenn followed him up with a triple of his own, which jolted the lead to 47-19 with 1:52 to play. Glenn added another bucket to make it 5 in a row for him on the next possesion, and on the final shot of the half, Walker sunk a mid range jumper to give FAU a 51-20 lead heading into the half.
2H U16 timeout
The Owls continued their strong play into the second half, as they started with back to back buckets from Vokietaitis down low and a pair of triples from Evans Jr and Tandy to spark a 14-7 run in the first 4 minutes of the second half, heading into the U16 break with a 65-27 advantage.
2H U12 timeout
There wasn’t much going for CGU at this point, although they came out of the U16 with a bucket from Kaden McArthur, Carroll and Glenn provided 5 straight points which kept them rolling with momentum. Tandy cashed in on his 4th triple of the day with 11:54 to play, giving the Owls a 74-33 lead, their largest of the day heading into the U12 timeout.
2h U8 timeout
Vokietaitis came out of the U12 break converting an and 1 free throw attempt, and on the next 2 possessions Evans Jr hit back to back triples, the second extended the FAU lead to 81-33, and a CGU free throw made it 81-34 which was the score heading into the U8 with 7:59 to play.
2H u4 timeout
Kaleb Glenn was having a big day, and out of the U8 timeout he scored his 15th and 16th points of the day on a layup and a few possessions later he scored his 17th and 18th points off of a turnover, which gave the Owls an 87-36 lead with 6:07 to play. The Owls used that run to fuel them until the next stoppage, as although Coastal Georgia scored 12 over the next 3 minutes, the Owls were getting out and running and after back to back buckets in transition from Nico Moretti and Devin Vanterpool, the Owls were leading 97-44 which was the score heading into the final media timeout with 3:23 to play.
2H Final 4
The final 3 minutes and change was smooth sailing for the Owls, as they slowed it down, turning down the 3-point barrage and getting to the rim. Mantas Kocanas capitalized on that with a second chance tip in at the rim off of a turnover with 1:01 to play, which gave the Owls a 99-46 lead. CGA hit a 3 pointer with 28 seconds remaining and that was the final bucket, ending the game with a 99-49 score.
All Photos provided via Christian Proscia and BBSN.