BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Johnell Davis scored 16 points and Alijah Martin had 14 as No. 15 Florida Atlantic rolled past rival Florida International 94-60 on Wednesday night.
Bryan Greenlee and Brandon Weatherspoon each scored 12 for the Owls (8-2), who opened the game on a 12-2 run and never looked back.
Jaidon Lipscomb scored 17 points for FIU (3-8), and Javaunte Hawkins added 12.
FAU shot 64% to FIU’s 36%, outrebounded the Panthers 43-27 and held a 48-20 edge in points in the paint. Owls center Vladislav Goldin, who entered the night as the national leader in field-goal percentage at 73.7%, made all three of his shots and grabbed nine rebounds.
“I don’t think we played exceptionally well, but we did play connected,” FAU coach Dusty May said. “We shared the ball, we took care of the ball against the No. 1 turnover-forcing team in the country. Overall, we did a lot of good things.”
It was FAU’s seventh consecutive win over its regional rival; the campuses are about 60 miles apart. They were both members of Conference USA through last season, and kept the rivalry going this season with FAU now having joined the American Athletic Conference.
The Panthers fell to 0-26 against ranked opponents, including 0-2 this season — with both those losses coming to teams that made the 2023 Final Four. FIU gave Miami a serious scare and wasted a 12-point second-half lead before falling 86-80 last month.
This time, there was no scare.
It was 18-7 midway through the opening half and that’s when FAU truly broke it open — making eight consecutive shots to push the lead out to 36-15. The margin was 43-20 at halftime and reached 37 in the second half.
The Owls were coming off a loss to Illinois last week at Madison Square Garden.
“We were really just focusing on our response,” Greenlee said. “We were slower the last game and we weren’t playing like ourselves. I think it was important for us to get our mojo back and really get connected as a team.”
BIG PICTURE
FIU: The Panthers gave up runs of 9-0, 7-0 and 6-0 in the first 17 minutes alone, on the way to getting down by as many as 25 in the first half.
FAU: Point guard Nick Boyd missed his seventh consecutive game with a leg injury and continues being listed as day-to-day.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
FAU’s seven consecutive poll appearances mark the 13th-longest active stretch in the country. It’s hard to envision the Owls falling completely out of the poll regardless of what happens Saturday against St. Bonaventure.
UP NEXT
FIU: Hosts Trinity College of the National Christian College Athletic Association on Saturday.
FAU: Will face St. Bonaventure on Saturday in Springfield, Massachusetts.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
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