Rick Barnes says Florida Atlantic's outside shooting is a 'challenge'

Florida Atlantic is headed to the program’s first-ever Sweet 16. After picking up their first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament, FAU then earned their spot in the regional semifinals by handling business against the Cinderella of this year’s tournament in Fairleigh Dickinson.

Now, with Dusty May and the Owls looking for more in Madison Square Garden, one of Rick Barnes’ key areas of focus defensively is on their three-point shooting. While it can be hit or miss considering how many attempts they try to get off from deep, he says their win total is all the Volunteers need to know about how dangerous their next opponent can be if they find success behind the line.

“It’s a challenge. It really is,” Barnes said during his press conference on Monday. “They shoot it with confidence, they really do a good job of knowing where each guy is on the court. They do a good job of getting in gaps, passing the ball, delivering it on the money. They’ve got some guys that have as quick a release as anybody that we’ve played against all year.”

“The pass is there and they don’t need any time to get it off,” said Barnes. “They spread it out, run really good offense. And, like I said, 33 wins, to me, speaks for everything that they’re about.”

FAU didn’t necessarily shoot it great during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. In their two wins over Memphis and then over the Knights, they shot just 28.8%.

Part of Tennessee’s concern, though, is that, on the season, they shot 37.2% from three. That means the Owls have advanced to the Sweet 16 by comparatively shooting well below their average. The other concern is the sheer volume of attempts they take. In the pair of games, FAU made eight threes in the first and nine threes in the second. Despite that, they attempted 59 threes overall.

It’s not just one or two players either. Against the Tigers, five players shot four or more threes in the one-point win. Against FDU, five players once again shot four or more threes with Nicholas Boyd leading the way with seven total attempts.

The Owls will be an underdog against Tennessee no matter which way you look at the matchup. Even so, FAU could make things very difficult for Barnes and the Vols in New York if they can find their stroke from distance on Thursday night.