It might only be December, but it is going to be awfully difficult for two college basketball teams to play a better game than the one No. 14 Florida Atlantic and No. 4 Arizona played on Saturday. Florida Atlantic was able to pull off a 96-95 double overtime win that saw the Owls overcome an early 17-3 deficit to continue their impressive start to the season.
It was one of the biggest regular-season wins in program history and continues to build on the progress the program made a year ago when it reached the Final Four. The Owls’ Cinderella run came to an end with a 72-71 loss to San Diego State. That was only the second time in program history the Owls even made the tournament.
Johnell Davis was the easy star of the game for the Owls on Saturday, pulling down the defensive rebound off of Caleb Love’s missed three-point attempt and leading the way offensively with a game-high 35 points. He went 15-of-27 from the field with nine total rebounds.
It is the latest big win for an on-the-rise program that is building quite another spectacular resume for itself early this season.
Along with Saturday’s win over Arizona, the Owls also have wins over Butler, Virginia Tech and Texas A&M and were extremely competitive against Illinois. This is the win that is really going to start getting them attention and could help propel them into the top-10 in the next AP poll.
The Owls opened the season as the No. 10 in the country following their Final Four run, the highest ranking the school has ever had.
They peaked at No. 19 a year ago.
