Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at FGCU on December 7, 2025 at 2 p.m.
2 p.m.
Men's Basketball
at FGCU
Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Thursday, February 24
Norfolk, Va.
7 PM
Florida Atlantic
at
Old Dominion
Three-Game Road Swing Begins at ODU
2/23/2022 10:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NORFOLK, Va. (FAUSports.com) -- The Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team begins a three-game road trip Thursday in Norfolk, Va. The Owls face off with Old Dominion. It's the first of four games that will determine the all-important seeding for the Conference USA Championship Tournament, coming up March 8-12 in Frisco, Texas.
FAU currently sits in third place in the C-USA East Division. The top two finishers in each division earn byes into the quarterfinal round of the C-USA Championship Tournament. Middle Tennessee State is currently in first place in the East, while Western Kentucky is in second at 9-6 and FAU is 8-6.
This is the second matchup this season between the Owls and Monarchs. FAU won the first meeting 81-62 in Boca Raton earlier this month.
FAU is 15-12 overall and 8-6 in Conference USA. FAU has matched its top mark for C-USA victories in a season, which was last accomplished in 2018-19. The Owls have four conference games remaining this season to set a new standard for CUSA success. Old Dominion comes into the contest 10-17 and 5-9 in C-USA action. The Monarchs have lost five of their last six, including the earlier FAU-ODU matchup.
The FAU-ODU tilt will be heard in the South Florida area on Fox Sports 640 AM and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Trending In The Right Direction
FAU posted its third consecutive winning season in 2020-21, making Dusty May the first Owls' head coach to lead a team to three straight winning seasons in the school's NCAA Division I history. Back in 1992, Tim Loomis coached the Owls to three straight seasons with a winning percentage above .500 while the team was a member of NCAA Division II.
A winning record in 2021-22 would make May the fi rst ever at FAU to coach a men's basketball team to four straight seasons above .500.
A Win Would ...
• Set a new FAU mark for C-USA victories in a season (prev. record - 8, 2018-19)
• Make it a season sweep over ODU
• Be the 63rd career victory for Coach May
• Be WAY better than a loss
Last Time Out - MTSU 87, FAU 79
The Middle Tennessee State University men's basketball team outscored Florida Atlantic University 23-14 in points off turnovers Saturday at FAU Arena for a differential of nine points. The Blue Raiders also outscored the Owls 12-4 in second-chance points for a differential of eight points. MTSU parlayed those two advantages into an eight-point victory over FAU, 87-79.
For a second straight game, FAU (15-12, 8-6 CUSA) had opportunities in the second half to tie the game or take the lead and couldn't convert. FAU trailed by as many as six early in the second half, but battled back to within one on two different occasions midway through the half.
A Michael Forrest bucket pulled the Owls within one, 54-53, with 11:43 left. MTSU (19-7, 10-3 CUSA) had a layup blocked by Johnell Davis, but secured the rebound and scored to go back up by three. One minute later, Davis scored to pull the Owls within one, 56-55. After a 1-of-2 trip to the free-throw line for the Blue Raiders, FAU had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead and gave up a turnover.
MTSU scored eight of the next 10 points and grabbed a 64-57 lead with eight minutes remaining. FAU never got closer than five for the remainder of the contest.
"We had some bad breaks, but Middle (Tennessee) created those breaks," FAU head coach Dusty May said. "Now, we're focused on playing good basketball again. I thought two-three weeks ago we were playing as good a basketball as ever has been played on this court at times. Now, we're not playing very good basketball on either side of the ball. We have to go back to the details, to the details of daily work and focus on improvement."
Middle Tennessee pushed its advantage to 11 points late in the contest before settling for the eight-point victory.
The Owls' largest lead was just four points early in the game. FAU led for 6:01 in the contest, all in the first half. A Giancarlo Rosado bucket in the paint with 5:43 remaining in the first half put FAU up 28-25. But MTSU's Elias King hit a 3-pointer moments later to tie the game and spark his team to the lead at halftime. Including King's triple, the Blue Raiders outscored FAU 15-8 over the last five minutes of the half. MTSU never relinquished the lead from there.
Alijah Martin matched his career-best scoring output with 22 points, including five 3-pointers. He also recorded a game-best six rebounds for the Owls. Giancarlo Rosado reached double-digit scoring for the second straight game, tallying a career-best 15. Forrest and Everett Winchester added 12 and 10, respectively. Josh Jefferson scored a game-high 26 points to pace MTSU, including 3 3-pointers and nine points from the free throw line.
FAU currently sits in third place in the C-USA East Division. The top two finishers in each division earn byes into the quarterfinal round of the C-USA Championship Tournament. Middle Tennessee State is currently in first place in the East, while Western Kentucky is in second at 9-6 and FAU is 8-6.
This is the second matchup this season between the Owls and Monarchs. FAU won the first meeting 81-62 in Boca Raton earlier this month.
FAU is 15-12 overall and 8-6 in Conference USA. FAU has matched its top mark for C-USA victories in a season, which was last accomplished in 2018-19. The Owls have four conference games remaining this season to set a new standard for CUSA success. Old Dominion comes into the contest 10-17 and 5-9 in C-USA action. The Monarchs have lost five of their last six, including the earlier FAU-ODU matchup.
The FAU-ODU tilt will be heard in the South Florida area on Fox Sports 640 AM and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Trending In The Right Direction
FAU posted its third consecutive winning season in 2020-21, making Dusty May the first Owls' head coach to lead a team to three straight winning seasons in the school's NCAA Division I history. Back in 1992, Tim Loomis coached the Owls to three straight seasons with a winning percentage above .500 while the team was a member of NCAA Division II.
A winning record in 2021-22 would make May the fi rst ever at FAU to coach a men's basketball team to four straight seasons above .500.
A Win Would ...
• Set a new FAU mark for C-USA victories in a season (prev. record - 8, 2018-19)
• Make it a season sweep over ODU
• Be the 63rd career victory for Coach May
• Be WAY better than a loss
Last Time Out - MTSU 87, FAU 79
The Middle Tennessee State University men's basketball team outscored Florida Atlantic University 23-14 in points off turnovers Saturday at FAU Arena for a differential of nine points. The Blue Raiders also outscored the Owls 12-4 in second-chance points for a differential of eight points. MTSU parlayed those two advantages into an eight-point victory over FAU, 87-79.
For a second straight game, FAU (15-12, 8-6 CUSA) had opportunities in the second half to tie the game or take the lead and couldn't convert. FAU trailed by as many as six early in the second half, but battled back to within one on two different occasions midway through the half.
A Michael Forrest bucket pulled the Owls within one, 54-53, with 11:43 left. MTSU (19-7, 10-3 CUSA) had a layup blocked by Johnell Davis, but secured the rebound and scored to go back up by three. One minute later, Davis scored to pull the Owls within one, 56-55. After a 1-of-2 trip to the free-throw line for the Blue Raiders, FAU had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead and gave up a turnover.
MTSU scored eight of the next 10 points and grabbed a 64-57 lead with eight minutes remaining. FAU never got closer than five for the remainder of the contest.
"We had some bad breaks, but Middle (Tennessee) created those breaks," FAU head coach Dusty May said. "Now, we're focused on playing good basketball again. I thought two-three weeks ago we were playing as good a basketball as ever has been played on this court at times. Now, we're not playing very good basketball on either side of the ball. We have to go back to the details, to the details of daily work and focus on improvement."
Middle Tennessee pushed its advantage to 11 points late in the contest before settling for the eight-point victory.
The Owls' largest lead was just four points early in the game. FAU led for 6:01 in the contest, all in the first half. A Giancarlo Rosado bucket in the paint with 5:43 remaining in the first half put FAU up 28-25. But MTSU's Elias King hit a 3-pointer moments later to tie the game and spark his team to the lead at halftime. Including King's triple, the Blue Raiders outscored FAU 15-8 over the last five minutes of the half. MTSU never relinquished the lead from there.
Alijah Martin matched his career-best scoring output with 22 points, including five 3-pointers. He also recorded a game-best six rebounds for the Owls. Giancarlo Rosado reached double-digit scoring for the second straight game, tallying a career-best 15. Forrest and Everett Winchester added 12 and 10, respectively. Josh Jefferson scored a game-high 26 points to pace MTSU, including 3 3-pointers and nine points from the free throw line.
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