Florida Atlantic went into Sunday’s matchup against Memphis riding a three game losing streak to the Tigers, however this time around the Owls were able to right their wrongs in a physically dominating 89-78 win.
It was all Owls from the jump in this one, as FAU took a 5-4 lead with 16:51 in the first half and they never gave it back. FAU benefitted from a diverse offensive effort which saw 6 players finish with 9 or more, however the difference maker in this one was the Owls physicality and overall effort.
FAU outrebounded Memphis 46 to 29 and they were able to turn that into 19 second chance points to the Tigers 8. That large discrepancy on the glass was created by FAU’s interior defense, specifically Devin Williams who finished with 7 blocks. His presence at the rim led to a rough go of it in the paint for Memphis, who finished just 12 of 24 on layups and 1 of 3 on dunks.
Memphis came into this game as one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the American Conference and the Owls ability to not only dominate the glass, but also turn it into points impressed FAU Head Coach John Jakus and helped them overcome their own mistakes.
“Yeah, they are the number one offensive rebounding team in our league. And so you come into the game, and you have to win that battle. They had five offensive rebounds. We had 14. But the differentiator for me isn’t just rebounding, I think our second chance points are 19 to 8. So to be plus 11 on the best offensive rebounding team in our league is a real positive thing.”
“Coach AD did the scout, which I thought they did a wonderful job, but they (Memphis) were two and five coming into this game when their opponent had 15 turnovers or less, I thought the physicality of getting open against the press and then breathing and being patient, we were much better in the second half. We clearly made some mistakes, but I thought, those two things, we were really good when it came to the physicality part,” Jakus said.
It wasn’t just Williams getting it done for FAU, it was nearly the entire team giving a level of physicality that made things difficult for Memphis. Maxim Logue was able to come off the bench as a spark plug, finishing with 6 points and 7 rebounds, with 5 of those coming on the offensive glass.
As an opponent, Memphis prepared for the interior defense that Williams and FAU would provide, with Hardaway noting that his squad had a week to prepare for this matchup. Although they had ample time to gameplan, the effort that FAU brought as a whole was on a different level than something they had seen on film this season.
“Obviously, he’s (Williams) been protecting the rim, but not like he did today. He wanted this game more, and they wanted it more,” Hardaway said.
While the Owls were able to build up a lead throughout the first half which they never relinquished, Memphis was able to cut the deficit to just two at the half, which meant the Owls needed a response out of the locker room.
They got that response in the form of Xander Pintelon, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the first 5 minutes of the second half, giving the Owls jolt which helped them extend their lead to double figures.
In some of their losses this season, FAU has struggled with maintaining their leads, but on Sunday they were able to keep Memphis at bay. Devin Vanterpool has been the star this season for FAU, however tonight the Owls were able to lean on Pintelon for a dominating stretch, something Jakus notes as a positive.
“I think at times we all kind of look around and we wait for Dev to do something, and then Kanaan can hit an Elbow pull up, but Xander getting to the rim and finding some of their bigger wings to drive by is a real positive. And then once he saw two go in, we were able to run two sets for him. He hit a three. He missed one, but then we came back to him and he hit another.”
“So Xander was as good as he’s been. It was his birthday, I believe, yesterday or two days ago. So happy birthday to him. We’re kind of hunting for the solid rotation of our bigs as we go, but it seems like one steps up pretty consistently. And today just happened to be Xander’s day,” Jakus said.
Kanaan Carlyle finished with 17 points as the leading scorer for FAU, joined by Xander Pintelon who added 13 and Devin Williams and Devin Vanterpool who both finished with 12. Although the Owls turned it over 15 times, they were able to get in rhythm and overcome those mistakes with an offense that played both inside and out.
Less than a week ago, FAU lost a matchup with Tulane where they turned it over 5 times over the final 2 minutes, leading to some soul searching ahead of back to back matchups against two of the top teams in the conference in UAB and Memphis.
They have been able to figure it out since then, picking up a road win against UAB on Wednesday and handing Memphis their first conference loss on Sunday. The biggest difference from the loss to Tulane to now has been the Owls defensive improvements, something according to Devin Vanterpool has allowed FAU to also trust their offense.
“I’ll probably say it started with defense, like, just on the defensive end, rebounding, getting deflections, stuff like that, knowing their sets, just defensive execution, then on the offensive side, just just playing our game, how we play this whole team’s talented, like we got such a deep roster, so I just trust our offense. It’ll be good,” Vanterpool said.
FAU now sits at 3-1 in conference play, tied for 3rd in the American with Charlotte. They will look to extend their win streak on Thursday, as Wichita State comes to town for a 9PM showdown on ESPN.
(All Photos Provided via FAU Athletics/ Jack Williams)