BOCA RATON — After trying to do too much on Thursday night with 39 three-point attempts, it made sense that going back to the basics would keep FAU in the game against Rice.
And in FAU’s first overtime game since their upset win over Ohio State in December, Michael Curry’s team continued to struggle at home with a 81-75 loss to the Owls.
FAU (8-15, 4-8) was aided by a combined 46 points from Adonis Filer, Jeantal Cylla, and Gerdarius Troutman. It was Troutman who kept things alive late in the final period, tying things at 73 with a three-pointer with 1:26 left.
Unfortunately for the home Owls, Rice (17-6, 7-5) outscored FAU 8-2 in the final 96 seconds.
“I don’t think we fell apart at the end, but it was still just a [one] possession game,” Curry said. “They made some free throws in overtime and we missed a couple shots.”
FAU wasted a breakout performance from forward William Pfister, who had a career-best game with nine points and nine rebounds before fouling out in overtime. The downside? Pfister missed three of his four free throws in overtime.
Rice’s Marcus Evans led all scorers with 28 points and also added six rebounds. In total, Rice’s starting lineup combined for 76 of the team’s 81 points.
Filer led FAU with 18 points.
“This was one of our better energy games at home, which I was happy to see after a disappointing loss to North Texas,” Curry said. “Eventually, we’ll turn it around and we’ll be 15-8 instead of 8-15.”
GameBrowser: Rice 81, FAU 75
Moving Forward: Gerdarius Troutman had four three-pointers…Frank Booker grabbed six rebounds and scored seven points…FAU only turned the ball over seven times.
Moving Backward: Nick Rutherford’s offensive struggles continuing, as the guard went 1-9 from the field…Justin Massey again struggled on offense, scoring 3 points on 1-7 shooting…FAU went 11-19 from the free throw line.
Key Stat: 9 – minutes played by center Ronald Delph, who was moved to the second unit for games like this where he could flourish off the bench. Delph racked up four fouls and four turnovers in those nine minutes.
Up Next: FAU will take a pre-Mardi Gras trip to Louisiana for a showdown on Thursday with Louisiana Tech. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
Leave a Reply