The clock has not yet hit midnight for the East Region’s No. 9 seeded. FAU Owls. On Saturday night, the Conference USA champions knocked off the No. 3 seeded Kansas State Wildcats 79-76 in the Elite Eight to advance to the program’s first Final Four.
The Owls are the third-ever No. 9 seed to make the Final Four joining 2013 Wichita State and 1979 Pennsylvania. Neither time would end up making the National Championship Game.
After finding themselves down 57-50 with 12 minutes to play in the second half, FAU would go on a 17-7 run over the next eight minutes to flip the game in their favor and take a 67-63 lead over the Wildcats.
However, one of the biggest reasons for the Owls’ win over the Wildcats was their domination on the board,s outrebounding the Wildcats 44-22 including nabbing 14 offensive rebounds resulting in 15-second chance points.
FAU forward Vladislav Goldin led that charge for the Owls with 13 total rebounds, he also had 14 points in the game. Gurad Alijah Martin also had a strong night with 17 points including hitting three-of-seven shots from beyond the arc.
The Owls now in the Final Four will await the winner of Sunday’s matchup between the No. 6 seeded Creighton Blue Jays and No. 5 seeded San Diego State Aztecs.