Stout Defensive Effort Leads Owls to 61-48 Win over UTEP

Thursday, February 7

El Paso, Texas

9 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

-1410, 56 CUSA

UTEP

-715, 29 CUSA

Florida Atlantic

UTEP

2/8/2019 12:46:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

EL PASO, Texas – An impressive defensive effort, combined with 27 points from Anthony Adger helped the Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team to a 61-48 victory over UTEP on Thursday. The Owls are now 14-10 overall and 5-6 in Conference USA.

The Start

Four different Owls scored during a 12-0 FAU run that gave the Owls a 15-4 lead early in the game. The Miners (7-15, 2-9 C-USA) got the lead down to five, but couldn't get any closer as FAU held them to just one field goal in the final 11:30 of the frame. The Owls led 30-19 at the break.

The Turning Point

Adger converted a four-point play that stretched FAU's lead to 14 at the 18-minute mark of the second half. Twice the Miners pulled to within seven points and both times Adger answered with a triple to push the margin back to 10.

The Finish

Eventually, UTEP got to within six at 42-36, but a 12-2 Owl rally ended any hopes of a Miner rally. Once again, FAU clamped down defensively, allowing just two made field goals for the last 12 minutes of the game.

Notables

· Anthony Adger had a game-high 27 points, his seventh 20-point game of the year. Adger made eight three-pointers on the night, giving him 77 for the season and passing Quinton Young for sixth place in FAU single-season history

· The 14 wins are the most in a season since 2012-13

· FAU's defense held the Miners to the lowest point total (48) and field goal percentage (28.3) of any opponent this season

Quotable

FAU Head Coach Dusty May

"We're becoming grittier and more competitive by the week. Every night we're giving ourselves a chance to win and I can't ask any more of our guys."

Looking Ahead

The Owls travel to San Antonio, Texas to face UTSA on Saturday, Feb. 9. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. Eastern. The game will be streamed on CUSA.tv. Live audio can be heard on ESPN 106.3 FM. In-game updates will also be available at twitter.com/FAU_Hoops.