Davis’ 35 points lead No. 14 FAU to 96-95 win over No. 4 Arizona in double OT

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Florida Atlantic Johnell Davis

LAS VEGAS — With Florida Atlantic and Arizona going back and forth Saturday, forcing one overtime and then a second, it didn’t feel like an early-season tournament game.

These teams could wind up facing each other again in March with much more on the line than the Desert Classic.

If so, they will have a difficult time topping the No. 14 Owls’ 96-95 victory over No. 4 Arizona for FAU’s first win over a top-10 team. Johnell Davis scored 35 points, just one short of his career high, and had nine rebounds.

“It felt like a high-level basketball game,” FAU coach Dusty May said. “This felt like a February game with the conference championship on the line.”

May should know, having last season taken the Owls on a stunning run to the Final Four. Only eight other teams seeded ninth or lower have ever made it that far.

They are showing that was no fluke, having beaten their second ranked team this season to improve to 10-2. FAU defeated then-No. 12 Texas A&M 96-89 on Nov. 24.

Giancarlo Rosado made the back end of two free throws with just under a minute remaining for what turned out to be the winning point against Arizona (9-2).

Caleb Love, who led the Wildcats with 26 points, missed a 3-pointer at the final buzzer. He was one of five Wildcats to score in double figures. Pelle Larsson was Arizona’s next highest scorer with 15 points, and Oumar Ballo had 13 points and a career-high 21 rebounds.

This was the first loss in Las Vegas for Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd, who was 9-0 including back-to-back Pac-12 Conference tourney championships.

“We told our guys these are the type of teams you’re going to play once you make a deep tournament run,” Lloyd said. “They’re an incredible team, incredibly well-coached. That No. 1 kid (Davis) was nails and they’re veterans.”

Davis nearly reached his all-time best of 36 points, which he scored against Alabama-Birmingham on Jan. 5.

“I just try to go out there and play each game the same,” Davis…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/davis-35-points-lead-no-054512013.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2023-12-24 05:45:12

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