Owls Smother North Texas 57-47

Thursday, February 14

Boca Raton, Fla.

7 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

-1511, 67 CUSA

North Texas

-206, 85 CUSA

UNT

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

2/14/2019 10:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - For the second time in three games, the Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team held an opponent below 50 points, defeating North Texas 57-47 on Thursday night. The Owls improved to 15-11 overall and 6-7 in Conference USA play.

The Start

Aleksandar Zecevic and Simeon Lepichev combined to put the Owls up 6-0 two minutes into the game. The Mean Green (20-6, 8-5 C-USA) rallied and took a 17-16 lead on an Umoja Gibson three-pointer with 7:40 left in the first half. FAU scored eight of the next 11 points to regain a 25-20 advantage before another NT triple, this one by Roosevelt Smart, made the score 25-22 at the break.

The Turning Point

NT's Gibson hit another three-pointer that cut the margin to one, but Anthony Adger converted a three-point play and Xavian Stapleton hit two threes as part of a 12-2 scoring spurt that gave FAU a 43-32 cushion with nine minutes to go in the game.

The Finish

The Mean Green refused to go away and pulled to within four on three different occasions in the final minutes, but each time FAU answered with a bucket to maintain the momentum. The Owls led by six and were at the line with 39 seconds left, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Michael Forrest was able to come up with the loose ball and make his two free throws to help seal the game.

Notables

· North Texas entered the game averaging 69.1 points per game in conference play and was held 22 points below its average. The 47 points were the fewest FAU gave up all season, beating the 48 points it held UTEP to last Thursday night

· The Mean Green averaged a 5.2 rebound advantage over its C-USA opponents prior to Thursday night, but were outrebounded 37-30 by the Owls

· Anthony Adger led FAU with 15 points, in addition to grabbing five rebounds and dishing out four assists

· Karlis Silins scored 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds. It was his fourth double-figure scoring game of the season

· Xavian Stapleton chipped in with 12 points and three boards

· Simeon Lepichev only had two points, but grabbed eight rebounds and forced several tough North Texas shots

· Michael Forrest likewise only scored two points, but had three assists and three rebounds, including his offensive rebound of a missed free throw that allowed the Owls to maintain possession with less than a minute to go in the game.

· With their eight makes in the game, the Owls extended their school record for threes made in season to 239.

· The win was FAU's sixth C-USA win of the season, tying for the most since joining the league.

Quotable

FAU Head Coach Dusty May

"North Texas scores a lot of baskets simply by outworking you and outrunning you in transition. I thought our guys sprinted back and got bodies in front of them and we were able to set our defense."

Karlis Silinis on the Team's Win

Looking Ahead

FAU wraps up its predetermined conference schedule against Rice on Saturday, Feb. 16. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. The game will be streamed on FAUsports.tv. Live audio can be heard on ESPN 106.3 FM.

Tickets

For tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit FAUSports.com.

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