ISU men’s basketball drops season opener to FAU

The Indiana State men’s basketball team took on Florida Atlantic University on college basketball’s opening night Monday at the John Wooden Family Fieldhouse and dropped a 97-64 decision.

ISU coach Matthew Graves gave props to FAU after the game, while also saying at the same time how it was a good test for them.

“At the end of the day, the Missouri Valley looks like that,” Graves said. “Obviously we have our work cut out for us, but at the same time in the second half we were able to play a lot of different guys, different combinations.”

FAU took the early lead and held it until Jahni Summers tied it at the 14:37 mark of the first half on a three with Samage Teel following up at the 13:44 mark to take a 15-12 lead over FAU. But the Owls took the lead back just moments later on an emphatic dunk. It was a tight game throughout the first half with both teams trading buckets.

The Owls kept the Sycamores on their toes as they played fast and aggressive down the court on the offensive side of things. They didn’t make it easy defensively for the Sycamores as they double teamed and swarmed whoever had the ball for the Sycamores. FAU regained the lead with just under 10 minutes to go in the first half as the Sycamores pushed to keep up with them.

The Sycamores struggled trying to lay the ball up and in with the swarm of FAU defenders they would face. They were able to move the ball around with smooth passing, but they struggled a bit to get shots to fall. This led to the Owls ultimately taking a 10-point lead at 28-18 with 6:56 to go in the first half. From there, the Owls would continue their barrage and build their double digit lead up even more.

With the Owls continuing to extend their lead Samage Teel would knock down a three to try to keep it respectable and within reach as they made an effort to chip away at the Owls’ lead. Unfortunately for the Sycamores, their defense was simply struggling to keep up with the buckets that came in flurries for the Owls as FAU…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/isu-mens-basketball-drops-season-045900237.html

Author : The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.

Publish date : 2024-11-06 04:59:00

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