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Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Owls Head into New Year with Conference Road Trip
12/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2005
BOCA RATON, FL - It is time to get down to business. With the goal of an NCAA Tournament berth one of its top priorities, the Florida Atlantic men's basketball team is ready to begin its quest for the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship.
The Owls (3-6, 2-0 A-Sun) will be in league play for the remainder of the regular season, starting with their first conference road trip of the year. That trip opens on Monday, Jan. 2 at 1:00 p.m. at Kennesaw State and concludes with a 7:00 p.m. tip on Wednesday, Jan. 4 at East Tennessee State.
FAU comes into the trip on a four-game slide, losing three consecutive games away from home prior to the Christmas break - at USF and twice at the Billy Minardi Classic in Louisville. That streak continued this past Thursday with a hard-fought 84-75 loss to Marist, the first home loss of the season for the Owls.
DeAndre Rice, who scored 20 points in the second half of Thursday's loss, leads FAU with 18.0 points per game. Rodney Webb is contributing 14.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
The Owls have welcomed back captain Brent Crews after a one-game absence. The junior, FAU's floor general from his small forward position, leads the team in assists (35) and steals (19).
FAU starts the trip tied for first in the conference following dramatic December wins over North Florida (77-75) and Jacksonville (107-104 in double overtime), with both victories coming at home. Being away from Boca Raton has not been kind to the Owls, who are currently 0-5 in games on opponents' or neutral courts.
Kennesaw State Profile
The Owls - of Kennesaw State, that is - could be the salve to heal FAU's road wounds. KSU is in its first season not only in the A-Sun but also at the Division I level.
As a Division II program last season, KSU was 24-6 and finished the year ranked seventh in the nation. This season, the Owls from Georgia are 4-7 overall with consecutive losses against Division II St. Paul's (73-71), at St. Louis (74-60) and against Furman (83-76) and Marshall (77-74 OT) at the Jack in the Box Classic in Greenville, S.C.
Thus far, A-Sun play has been kind to KSU, which is 2-0 with conference home wins over Belmont, 91-87, and Lipscomb, 67-66. Golden Ingle (19.4 ppg), Ronnell Wooten (14.0) and Brent Ragsdale (11.0) account for 63.6% of the Owls' scoring.
East Tennessee State Profile
East Tennessee is also in its first season in the Atlantic Sun after dropping its football program and leaving the Southern Conference. The Buccaneers have been the surprise team in the Atlantic Sun - for the wrong reasons.
Just 3-6 overall, ETSU has suffered home conference losses to Belmont, 88-85 in overtime, and Lipscomb, 56-54. East Tennessee was picked in the polls to finish second in the regular season standings and was the favorite to win the A-Sun's NCAA berth as host of the conference tournament.
Preseason Player of the Year Tim Smith has done little to disappoint, leading the Bucs with 22.1 points per game. Dillion Sneed at 11.9 and Courtney Pigram at 11.3 are also averaging double figures in scoring.
Players Mentioned
Postgame Presser vs. UTSA
Wednesday, December 31
Weekly Presser w/ Head Coach John Jakus
Monday, December 29
Postgame Presser vs. UCF
Tuesday, December 23
Weekly Media w/ Head Coach John Jakus
Monday, December 22