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BOCA RATON – FAU clinched a Conference USA tournament berth with a dominant 74-54 home win over North Texas on Saturday.
With FAU’s win and Rice’s loss at Florida International on Saturday night, the Owls can finish the season no lower than No. 12 in C-USA. The top 12 of 14 teams qualify for the tournament.
“We kind of fully expected to be there,” Curry said. “We knew we had to do it out on the court.”
Gerdarius Troutman knocked down two straight spot-up three-pointers to give FAU a 61-45 lead midway through the second half.
FAU kept its foot on the gas pedal, leading by as much as 27 late in Saturday’s win.
After hitting only one field goal in the opening 20 minutes, Troutman sparked FAU off the bench with 13 of his 19 points coming in the second half.
Massey came out of the gates firing on Saturday night, scoring 17 first half points on three triples and getting to the line for seven free throw attempts – hitting six – in the period.
Massey finished with a game-high 24 points to go with five rebounds.
FAU completed the last four minutes of the first half on a 12-0 run led by Massey scoring 10 of his 17 first half points in that span.
Payton Hulsey stuffed the stat sheet on Saturday night; scoring 12 points to go along with eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
FAU held North Texas to 31 percent shooting from the field and 19 percent from three-point range.
GameBrowser: FAU (12-16, 6-10) 74, North Texas (14-15, 7-9) 54
Moving Forward: FAU honored its seniors pregame before the five-man group played their final game in The Burrow. …Center Ronald Delph rejected six shots in Saturday’s win.. … Troutman and Massey combined to convert 17 of their 19 free throw attempts.
Moving Backward: Anthony Adger shot 0-5 from the field in his 16 minutes of play. … Jailyn Ingram had the same amount of points (4) as turnovers. … FAU lost the offensive rebounding battle 11-2 in the first half.
Key Stat: 12 – wins for FAU on the season, the most in coach Michael Curry’s four seasons at the helm.
Up Next: FAU will travel to Norfolk for a March 1 road test against Old Dominion, Thursday’s tip off is set for 7 p.m.
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