FAU fans mob guard Alex Tucker to celebrate the Owls’ 106-88 victory over FIU Saturday night at The Burrow. (FAUOwlAccess photo)
Proper Burial
> FAU 106, FIU 88: 'On Bury The Burrow' night a large and raucous crowd sees FAU rout Isiah Thomas’ Golden Panthers
Originally published on
1/30/2010
by
Marcus Nelson
> Video: FAU blows past FIU in raucous Burrow
> Boxscore: Stats from Saturday's game
> Photo Galley: Tailgate parties
> Photo Gallery: In the Burrow
BOCA RATON - FAU coach Mike Jarvis didn’t want Owl fans to be too rough on FIU coach Isiah Thomas.
He didn’t have any restrictions on how his team should treat the first-year coach of the Golden Panthers, though – and the Owls were hardly gracious hosts.
In front of a crowd of 2,916 fans, the Owls had one of their best showings of the season in a 106-88 victory vs. Thomas’ Golden Panthers.
“Right now I want the guys to feel confident, but I don’t want the guys to think it’s easy because it’s not,” said FAU coach Mike Jarvis.
The Owls (12-10, 8-3) also scored 106 points this season in a 106-99 triple-overtime victory vs. Warner Southern, but tonight the Owls just decided to run out the clock as students mobbed the court.
“Most of those fans live in the same dorm as I do,” said guard Alex Tucker, who set a school record with 16 assists. “They said they were going to paint their bodies…They are starting to get vocal. They were excited and I was excited.”
It was the fifth consecutive victory for the Owls and their seventh in the last eight games.
“We have to stay humble,” said Owls junior guard Sanchez Hughley, who tied his career high with 19 points. “We started this in June…We have to stay focused and stay humble.”
The Owls led 52-36 at halftime and led by as many as 24 in the second half before the Golden Panthers cut the lead to 86-77 with 7:26 remaining.
But FAU answered quickly with a 11-0 run to seal the game.
“I thought we fought our way back into the game, but every time we fought our way into it, they had an answer with the 3-ball,” Thomas said.
GameBrowser: FAU 106, FIU 88
Moving forward: Greg Gantt hit five 3-pointers giving him 65 for the season, setting a new FAU freshman record, breaking Jeff Cowans’ mark of 63 in 2000-01. …Shavar Richardson had a career-high 22 points. …Brett Royster had 12 points and nine rebounds
Moving backward: Ray Taylor picked up 3 early fouls and fouled out. …The Owls lost the turnover battle 14-12.
Stat download: The Owls shot 50 percent (15-of-30) on 3-pointers
Up next: FAU is at North Texas on Thursday.