BOCA RATON – FAU needed to make a statement against Wichita State on Thursday night (Feb. 20).
Coming into this American Athletic Conference (AAC) tilt, the Owls were on a season-high five-game winning streak and heading into the right direction. They were fourth in the conference behind No. 22 Memphis (11-2 AAC; 21-5 overall), North Texas (10-3 AAC; 19-6 overall), and UAB (10-3 AAC; 17-9 overall).
But a relatively cold shooting night halted FAU’s positive progress – at least for just one game.
In what was a 75-68 home loss to the Shockers, the Owls (15-11; 8-5 AAC) connected on just 25 of 61 shots at a 41 percent success rate. They made just 10 of their 29 three-point attempts for a conversion rate of 34.5 percent.
What probably hurt the Owls the most was how their free throw performance turned out against the Shockers (16-10; 6-7 AAC). They made eight of their 13 free throws from the stripe, which equates to 61.5 percent.
FAU led Wichita State by one point on two occasions (18-17 with 10:03 left in the first half; 48-47 with 12:24 left in the second half). But the home team’s combined time ahead of Wichita State lasted for only 39 seconds.
FAU had four players who scored more than 10 points each:
•Guard Kaleb Glenn – 16 points
•Forward Tre Carroll – 11 points
•Guard Ken Evans Jr. – 11 points
•Guard Leland Walker – 11 points
While this is commendable and obviously demonstrates enough scoring balance for the Owls, it was not enough as the Shockers were simply the more cohesive, fluid and focused team for the night.
“Everyone at FAU gets an A+ besides us,” FAU head coach John Jakus said. “The tailgate was great. The environment was great. The win streak prior to it had everything going in the right direction. We’re disappointed we didn’t hold up our end of the bargain. Wichita State did a good job of keeping us out of transition…completely controlling the tempo. I thought there were some frustrated shots taken by us, which is a pretty disappointing.”
FAU had trouble containing Wichita State guard Xavier Bell, who finished with a game-high 24 points. The athletic playmaker scored 15 of his points in the second half, with some of his points coming from open shots on the left side and others coming by way of contested ones and free throws.
It is safe to say that Bell was Thursday night’s best player on the court.
“He was 0-of-3 in the first half when he went right,” Jakus said of Bell. “He was 4-of-10 and on three of our stops, we made him go right. He was forcing himself to take as long as it took to get to that left hand. That was in the scout (report) and we addressed it for a couple of days. We just did not execute it.”
Bell led Wichita State to some sustained runs in this one, particularly a 15-0 stretch during the first half that gave his team a game-high 14-point lead at 32-18 with 3:57 left.
And after FAU came back from a 36-28 halftime deficit to eventually – and briefly – take a 48-47 lead, Wichita State was locked in for the rest of the way. It was relatively close down the stretch – the score was tied at 55-55 with 7:24 left in the game – but the ultimate outcome felt inevitable regardless of the scoring margin.
Wichita State had a great shooting night as a whole by going 27-of-55 on field goals (49.1 percent), 6-of-10 on three-pointers (60 percent), and 15-of-16 rom the stripe (93.8 percent). Guards Bijan Cortes (16 points, game-high seven assists) and Harlond Beverly (10 points) were the two other Shockers who scored in double figures.
“You have to give them credit,” Jakus said of Wichita State. “They’ve won five in a row now. We had a long win streak, but they took that from us.”
FAU has now dropped to fifth in the AAC, behind Memphis, North Texas, UAB, and Tulane (9-4 AAC, 15-11 overall). But it can make up some ground with a win in the next game, which will be on the road at Memphis on Sunday (Feb. 23; 2 p.m. tip-off).