The Owls are playing their best basketball during the season’s most critical stretch.
With a chance of finishing as high as fourth in the Sun Belt before it’s all said and done, FAU added another win to its resume, sweeping the season series with New Orleans with a 98-77 victory at FAU Arena Saturday.
“This is when a team is supposed to come together,” said FAU’s Carlos Monroe. “We picked the right time to gel.”
In a complete team effort, FAU had four players score in double figures. Monroe led the way with 30 points and 14 rebounds. Paul Graham added 22 points, and Jeff Parmer chipped in 21. DeAndre Rice rounded out the foursome with 12 points of his own. The fifth starter, Brent Crews, played his usual role as defensive specialist and team leader. Monroe and Graham set their career highs for points scored, and Jeff Parmer tied his career mark.
“Their first five…I’m not so sure that they aren’t as good as anybody in the league. I think Coach Walters has them playing really, really spirited down the stretch,” said UNO Head Coach Buzz Williams.
Following an upset of Western Kentucky on the road, the Owls returned home to face a formidable New Orleans team with an equal conference record. In order to extend their winning streak to four games, the Owls had to overcome the Sun Belt’s leading scorer. Bo McCalebb came in averaging 24.6 points per game for the Privateers and eclipsed that with 34 points on 10 of 17 shooting.
“We just tried to contain him, stay in front of him,” Graham said.
Solid shooting from behind the three point arc kept New Orleans in the game into the second half. The Privateers trailed by one at halftime and tied the score at 48 at 15:44 in the second half. But, eventually the Owls were just too much to handle. Jeff Parmer and Carlos Monroe used their size inside to overpower the Privateers’ defenders.
“[Carlos] should be Player of the Week. He was huge in two big wins versus two very good teams,” said FAU Head Coach Rex Walters.
FAU pulled away for good midway through the second half sparked by an emphatic break-away dunk by Paul Graham, strong inside play by Monroe, and the smooth shooting of DeAndre Rice.
Derrick Simmons spent a large portion of his limited playing time above the rim, with several notable vertical leaps on the way to 9 points and 5 rebounds in only 8 minutes. The most sensational moment came when Rice hit Simmons for an alley-oop dunk as FAU increased their lead in the second half.
With the win, FAU retains its position at third in the division with a conference record of 9-7. FAU also remains at least in a tie for fourth in the conference. Two major conference tests remain on the regular season schedule with a home game against league leader South Alabama and on the road against divisional foe Middle Tennessee State.
