This isn’t Los Angeles, but it is surely Boca Raton. Deservedly so, No. 23 FAU now has their own celebrity row. The two faces of South Florida sports were sitting courtside Thursday night: Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler and Florida Panthers star Aleksander Barkov.
“Nah,” Alijah Martin said when asked if Jimmy Butler brought on any extra motivation. “But much respect to Jimmy. When we saw him we just needed to play our brand of basketball and not get carried away trying to do extra stuff.”
To say the least, the Owls did not disappoint, giving their courtside guests a show.
Down by 11 points to Wichita State at halftime, FAU had to turn it on.
“We were saying that we needed to strike first,” Martin said postgame about the conversation during halftime. “We needed to pick up our intensity. And just guard the ball better.”
FAU came out of the locker room on fire, combining the energy on the court with the rowdy student section.
Things were tied at 66 with six minutes remaining, but that is when FAU pulled in front, scoring six straight points to eventually put the game out of reach.
The downfall of Wichita State happened in the final 10 minutes; the Shockers were only able to cash in on five field goals during that time span.
Martin nearly had a double-double with 22 points and nine rebounds, Johnell Davis finished with 19 points and six assists, and Vlad Goldin finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Wichita State has now lost six straight games, their longest losing streak since the 2008 season, but the box score does not tell the story.
“In the last six games we have played four quad one games and one of them is a quad two,” Wichita State head coach Paul Mills said postgame.
This may or may not be shocking (no pun intended), but the Shockers are extremely undervalued. Their size combined with lethal shooting may be able to get Wichita State through the AAC Tournament at the end of the season.
Standing at seven feet, Quincy Ballard is one of the strongest big men in college basketball. The former FSU center scored 18 points Thursday night, but was only able to grab two rebounds.
Wichita State could have beaten FAU had there been better rebounding, especially from Ballard. FAU was able to get 14 offensive rebounds. This is shocking because the Shockers are one of the biggest teams FAU will face all season.
Another shocking takeaway from Thursday night was Wichita State’s free throw percentage. The Shockers had a better field goal percentage than free throw percentage as Wichita State only hit seven of their 14 free throws.
The Shockers shot 56% from the field compared to FAU’s 47%. Wichita State also shot 44% from three. So truly, it came down to rebounding and physical play in the trenches.
Speaking of physical play, FAU was able to score 17 points off of 14 turnovers from Wichita State.
As a team, FAU shot 68% from the stripe, but shot poorly from three, cashing in on only 9-of-27 attempts.
“This group is still developing a championship level of trust,” FAU head coach Dusty May said after the game. “We were quick to the ball. Our rebounding had become five guys fighting like crazy for every single possession. I don’t think that was necessarily the case in the first half. Sometimes when you are shooting so poorly that’s just how human nature works. We’ve got to be able to overcome that. When shots aren’t going in, then we got to find ways to be even grittier on the other side of the floor.”
FAU, who now sits at 14-4, 4-1 AAC, is back on the road Sunday afternoon as the Owls travel to Texas to face UTSA. Can the Owls make it four straight wins?
Wichita State, meanwhile, will stay in Florida to face the USF Bulls on Sunday. USF just beat the No. 10 ranked Memphis Tigers Thursday night for their first win over a top 10 team since 2010. Can the Shockers end their losing streak by beating a high-flying USF team with a ton of momentum?
FAU beats Wichita State 86-77. Jimmy Butler and Aleksander Barkov head out after a thriller win! pic.twitter.com/uHqdGlJ6h3
— Isaac Edelman (@IsaacEdelman) January 19, 2024