Florida Atlantic won two games in New York last year on an improbable run to the Final Four, and now everyone wants to know if the Owls can follow a similar formula and do it again.
No. 8 seed FAU’s city venue has changed from Madison Square Garden to Barclays Center, starting with Friday’s East Regional vs. No. 9 Northwestern, followed by No. 1 overall seed and defending NCAA champion University on Sunday. The possibility of a combination with a university is looming.
“This year has had a lot of ups and downs, but when you think about last year, everyone was chasing us,” said sophomore guard Nick Boyd, who played high school hoop at Don Bosco Prep and St. Mary’s Rutherford in New Jersey. I’m doing it,” he said. “But it would make the story even more special.
“We look forward to proving ourselves once again under this bright light.”
As a No. 9 seed last year, FAU defeated Tennessee in the Sweet 16 and Kansas State in the Elite Eight at MSG before suffering a heartbreaking last-second loss to San Diego State in the national semifinals. .
Owls coach Dusty May said, “I’m very excited to bring our group back to New York, where we have so many fond memories.” “It will be a great environment and memorable experience for our players, especially being located in Brooklyn, New York, the mecca of college basketball.”
The Boca Raton-based May program switched conferences from Conference USA to American Athletic this season, but returns 14 of 15 players from last season’s roster. This is unusual in a much-altered college format that features NIL contracts and a transfer portal.
Despite losing to Temple in the conference tournament (16-20), FAU finished 14-4 in conference play (second only to South Florida) and 25-8 overall for a big win.
FAU, led by junior guard Jonelle Davis with 18.2 points per game, suffered disappointing Game 4 losses to Bryant and Florida Gulf Coast, but impressed in Game 1 against Texas A&M and Arizona. achieved a great victory.
“I tend to look at everything because the glass is less than half full, but when we play a team we should beat, or maybe we were outrageous favorites, I get frustrated with the attention to detail. “Something happened,” May said. “So for most of the season we were fighting against humanity.
“But overall, big moments and bodies of work certainly mask the bumps in the road. They’re part of the experience that makes us who we are.”
Florida Atlantic finished tied for third in the Big Ten with Nebraska and faces a tough first-round matchup against Northwestern, which received an at-large bid for the first time in two years, before considering a possible matchup with Collegiate Con on Sunday. facing a combination. In school history.
Boo Bouie, a fifth-year senior guard and Albany native, leads the Wildcats (21-11) with 19.2 points and 5.1 assists per game.
“It’s very exciting to be in New York. It’s a great city for basketball. And to get here. [Wednesday], you could feel it once you got to town,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. “Our players are excited and ready to go. We have a really experienced and talented team that is well-coached, went to the Final Four last year and had great experience in the NCAA Tournament. We know we have a very tough challenge ahead of us against a certain team.
“So I know we had a good week of practice. We’re excited to be here. We’ll have the opportunity to play at FAU and see what we can do.” looking forward to it.”
