A closer look at Florida Atlantic, Tennessee's opponent in the Sweet Sixteen

Florida Atlantic isn’t the name brand from the big conference. But Tennessee can’t look past the Owls, out of Conference USA, in the Sweet Sixteen Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

FAU beat No. 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson 78-70 Sunday night to advance to the NCAA Tournament East Region semifinal, a day removed from FDU stunning No. 1 seed Purdue in Friday’s opening round. 

The start time for Thursday’s game has not yet been announced.

The Tennessee-Florida Atlantic winner will play the winner of No. 3 Kansas State and No. 7 Michigan State. K-State beat No. 6 Kentucky on Sunday while the Spartans eliminated the region’s No. 2 seed, Marquette.

The Owls (33-3) rode a 20-game win streak from November 14 to January 25 and were ranked No. 25 in last week’s Associated Press Top 25, five spots behind of No. 20 Tennessee. 

FAU is No. 21 overall in the KenPom.com ratings and are ranked No. 28 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 37 in adjusted defensive efficiency. Tennessee, after advancing past Duke with a 65-52 win in the second round Saturday, is No. 6 overall per KenPom, while ranked No. 1 in defensive efficiency and No. 60 in offensive efficiency. 

Ole Miss beat FAU 80-67 in Oxford on November 11, the second game of the season, but the Owls bounced back with a 76-74 win at Florida three days later, despite the Gators getting 30 points and 12 rebounds from Colin Castleton. 

FAU won 20 straight games earlier this season, ranked No. 25 in AP Poll

The win at Florida was the start of the 20-game win streak that lasted until February 2, when UAB beat FAU 86-77 in Birmingham. The Owls lost again at Middle Tennessee State on February 16, dropping to 2-3 over a five-game stretch.

Since then, it’s been nine straight wins, including three in three days in the Conference USA Tournament against Western Kentucky (75-51), MTSU (68-65) and UAB (78-56).

May, a 46-year-old for student manager for Bob Knight at Indiana, coached under Georgia head coach Mike White at Louisiana Tech and Florida after stops at UAB, Murray State and Eastern Michigan in a coaching career that dates back to 2005.  

He’s 98-58 in his fourth season at FAU, winning 17 games in each of his first two seasons, just 13 games during the COVID season in 2020-21 and 19 games last season, finishing tied for second in Conference USA.

May’s offense at Florida is balanced, ranked 22nd by KenPom in adjusted field-goal efficiency, 33rd in 3-point percentage (37.0) and 37th in 2-point percentage (54.0). In terms of point distribution, the Owls score 37.3 percent of their points from the 3-point line, 26th nationally, and 46.7 percent of their points inside the arc, 299th nationally.

FAU is 180th in free-throw percentage (71.8), 256th in free-throw rate (29.1) and 312th free throws in point distribution, scoring only 16.0 percent of its total points at the foul line.

Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 9 Florida Atlantic, Thursday, Sweet Sixteen

Entering Sunday’s second-round game against FDU, Florida Atlantic had six guards — Alijah Morris, Michael Forrest, Nicholas Boyd, Bryan Greenlee, Johnell Davis and Brandon Weatherspoon — that had attempted 100 or more 3-point shots on the year and a seventh — Jalen Gaffney — that had attempted 91. 

Boyd has the best percentage at 41.1, ahead of David (39.3), Greenlee (38.8), Martin (36.4), Forrest (34.5), Weatherspoon (33.3) and Gaffney (33.0).

Tennessee, for context, has shot 817 3-pointers this season, to 893 for FAU, and has four players — Santiago Vescovi, Zakai Zeigler, Tyreke Key and Josiah-Jordan James — that have 100-plus attempts. Vescovi leads the Vols in both attempts (237) and percentage (37.1). 

FAU’s 37th-ranked defense is 15th in effective field-goal percentage allowed (46.0), 38th in offensive-rebound percentage allowed (24.9) and 53rd in free-throw rate (26.5). 

The Owls are 65th in 3-point percentage (31.9) and 14th in 2-point percentage (45.0). FAU’s 3-point rate allowed is 34.4 percent, ranked 81st nationally, and the defense is second nationally in assist rate, giving up assists on only 33.7 percent of field goals made. 

In point distribution, opponents scored 29.4 percent of their points at the 3-point line against FAU, ranked 227th, and 52.8 percent inside the arc, ranked 114th. Opponents score 17.8 percent of their points at the free-throw line, ranked 210th.