Men’s Basketball: Owls fall out of AP Top 25 following loss on the road
After debuting in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll three weeks ago, FAU was left off the latest rankings released on Monday.
In the final minutes of the first half , Vladislav Goldin hits a hook shot against WKU on Jan. 28th, 2023
February 6, 2023
After advancing to No. 19 last week, FAU men’s basketball (22-2, 12-1 C-USA) has fallen out of the Top 25 in the lastest Associated Press Top 25 Poll released on Monday afternoon.
Their exit from the rankings comes after their 20-game winning streak was broken in a 86-77 defeat to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers (17-7, 8-5 C-USA) on Thursday night. Before the loss, the Owls were on the longest winning streak in the NCAA.
However, they were able to recover from the loss two days later with a 67-52 victory over the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (13-10, 4-8 C-USA) 49ers on Saturday.
Even with the loss, the Owls are still in control of first place in the Conference USA standings—two games ahead of the University of North Texas Mean Green (19-5, 10-3 C-USA).
The defeat did, however, take away some of the traction the Owls had been gaining in many recent bracket predictions.
After appearing as high as the eighth seed in ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi’s bracket prediction, the Owls have fallen to the eleventh seed in the East region in his latest bracket update. This would slate them to take on the University of Iowa Hawkeyes (15-8, 7-5 Big Ten) in Greensboro, NC in the first round.
Despite the loss last Thursday, the Owls still boast one of the more impressive resumes in the country. The Owls average more points off the bench (37.46) than any team in the country and are ranked 12th in the country in scoring margin (+13).
In addition, the Owls are currently in a three-way tie with the University of Houston and Purdue University for the best winning percentage in the nation (.971).
Solid play on both sides of the court from nearly everyone on the roster is what allowed the Owls to get to this point. Three different players on FAU’s roster are currently averaging more than 10 points per game, with sophomore guard Johnell Davis as leading scorer averaging 13.1 points.
FAU’s next appearance will be against the Rice University Owls (15-8, 6-6 C-USA) on Thursday, Feb. 9, at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena in Boca Raton, Fla. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m and will be broadcast by ESPN+.
Nicole Vogt is a contributing writer at the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories email her at [email protected], or tweet her @nicole_nikkiv.
