Owls Nipped by Southern Miss 68-66

Thursday, February 13

Hattiesburg, Miss.

8 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

-1412, 67 CUSA

Southern Miss

-818, 49 CUSA

FAU

Southern Miss

2020 FAU Men's Basketball vs Palm Beach Atlantic

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

2/13/2020 11:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - A 21-point, eight rebound effort from Jailyn Ingram was not enough as the Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team fell to Southern Miss 68-66 on Thursday night.

USM (8-18, 4-9 Conference USA) scored the first four points of the night, but the Owls (14-12, 6-7) answered with nine straight points, capped by a pair of Kenan Blackshear free throws to take a 9-4 lead. FAU's lead increased to as many as seven before the Golden Eagles rallied to even the score at 31-31. Ingram hit a 15-foot jumper to give FAU a 33-31 advantage at the half.

The Owls were able to maintain a modest lead for the early portion of the second half. USM went on a 12-2 run, taking a 54-47 edge with nine minutes to play. The lead was eight, 63-55, with less than five minutes remaining when FAU rallied. Cornelius Taylor scored, followed by two more Aleksandar Zecevic buckets, followed by an Ingram jumper that leveled the score at 63-63 with 2:23 on the clock. USM scored three points in a row, then Ingram made a layup, pulling FAU to within a point, 66-65, with 44 seconds remaining.

After a defensive stop, Ingram split a trip to the free throw line, tying the score with 31 seconds to play. The Owls were called for a foul with six seconds left and USM made both free throws. FAU called a timeout and had a chance at the game-winning 3-pointer, but the shot bounced off the rim, allowing USM to escape with the win.

Notables

Ingram had his second 20-point game of the season. He had 21 points against Mercer on Dec. 22
Zecevic scored 12 points, his third double-digit effort in FAU's last four games
Taylor had seven points, six rebounds and five assists
Richardson Maitre posted six points, five assists and two rebounds

Quotable

FAU Head Coach Dusty May
"I thought we did a good job of making a run late and taking it to the wire. We just didn't make the plays we needed to as far as loose balls and rebounding."

What's Next

FAU finishes its predetermined conference schedule on Saturday, Feb. 15 at Louisiana Tech. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. Eastern. The game will be streamed on ESPN+. Live stats will be available at fausports.com. The game can be heard on FOX Sports 640AM. Live updates will be posted on the team's official Twitter account, @FAU_Hoops.