Battle of the Owls: No. 24 Florida Atlantic defeats Temple 80-68 for 20th win of the season
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic bounced back from last week's less-than-ideal road trip with an 80-68 win over Temple Thursday night.
Temple (8-17, 1-11 AAC) gave the No. 24 Owls (20-5, 10-2) some scares in the second half. But a strong offensive start paired with some big-time shots from Johnell Davis kept them in the driver’s seat for most of the night.
Five FAU players cracked double digits. Davis posted a team-high 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting with five rebounds, six assists and one turnover. Alijah Martin and Brandon Weatherspoon each finished with 16 points, while Vlad Goldin and Nick Boyd added 12 points each. Martin added seven rebounds.
“Overall, we got something out of this experience,” said head coach Dusty May. “They have some strengths that can expose some things that we are not. But I thought down the stretch our guys really sat down, were active in the gaps, supported each other, and found ways to get crucial stops.”Next up for Florida Atlantic is a road game in Tampa against AAC-leading South Florida (12-1) on Sunday at noon. The game is sold out and will be televised by ESPN.
Here are three takeaways from Thursday night’s Battle of the Owls at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
Tale of two halves for Temple’s defense
In the first half, the visiting Owls struggled to defend without fouling. Among their 10 first-half fouls, Davis took a shot to the face and had to plug his nose to prevent bleeding, Goldin took some extracurricular hits that forced the officials to review for a flagrant, and even Tre Carroll was fouled by a reckless closeout on a 3-point attempt.
The poor effort opened up plenty of clean looks for FAU, which took advantage. The hometown Owls went 15-of-28 from the field and buried 8-of-16 shots from behind the arc. The free-throw line didn’t see the same efficiency, however, and FAU went 7-of-14 in the first half.
“I thought for about eight or 10 minutes in the first half we played as well as we have in a long time, and just couldn’t sustain the run,” May said. “We missed five straight free throws. You look at the flow of the game and if you get in a rut at the line and you’re not able to capitalize, the game feels a lot different.”
Temple forced two quick turnovers at the start of the second half and was 6-of-8 from the field, creeping to within 4 points five minutes in after being down by as many as 17 in the first half. By the 10-minute mark, FAU was shooting 5-of-14 from the floor and had converted on 1-of-6 from deep.
Carroll and Rosado stepped up in the battle of the boards
When FAU controlled the glass, everything else flowed. Midway through the first half, the home team outrebounded the visitors by nearly double and jumped out to a 17-point lead.
But Temple regrouped down low and caught up to FAU’s rebounding total toward the end of the first half before going on a 6-0 run that closed the gap to 45-34 heading into the break.
Goldin finished the game with just two rebounds, but Carroll bridged the slow start with seven boards in 10 minutes. What didn’t show up in the box score were Carroll's numerous offensive tip-outs, solid box-outs and strong help on defense.
“A body in motion stays in motion,” May said. “I thought once our bodies stopped moving, we weren’t as aggressive on the glass, we weren’t getting to the long rebounds. And that’s because we all have a responsibility to keep it moving and not hold it. And once we start holding it, we lost our aggression on the glass.”
Giancarlo Rosado made his first appearance since Jan. 14 after injuring his left knee and came on the court to a standing ovation. Despite playing just eight minutes, he still contributed big plays, grabbing offensive rebounds and blocking a shot.
“I could go on until tomorrow raving about Giancarlo Rosado, great to have him back,” May said.
Need a big play? Find Johnell Davis
Davis was named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top-25 Watch List earlier Thursday and proved why once again in FAU’s win.
More: FAU men's basketball NCAA Tournament projections: Where do bracketology experts have Owls?
With just over five minutes to play and Temple keeping within striking distance, Davis came up with buckets that gave FAU much-needed breathing room.
In a two-minute span, Davis outscored Temple 7-2, giving FAU a 12-point lead with under four minutes to play. Three-pointer, contested midrange jumper, driving finishes, post-move scores — you name it, Davis made it happen when his team needed it most.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Atlantic defeats Temple 80-68 for 20th win of the season
