By Ken Cross
TAMPA, Fla. – Florida Atlantic’s 6-11 Baba Miller scored 17 points, and 7-0 Matas Vokietaitis added 14 to lead the Owls to a 69-63 win over South Florida at the Yuengling Center on Sunday afternoon.
FAU’s inside attack and the Bulls’ ability to only make seven shots in the first half were major differences as Florida Atlantic was able to snap it’s three-game losing streak.
Miller’s three-point game combined with his three-point attack was a tough assignment for USF.
“Just being out there cutting and moving with the ball, my teammates find me whenever I am open,” said Miller. “They find me open most of the time and I try to get them open.”
Miller and Vokietatis have bought their games from Spain and Lithuania as they were solid performers on the international level. Miller began his career at Florida State while Vokietatis represented Lithuania in international competitionm.
“They have pretty much had the same starting lineup for most of the year,” said Bulls coach Ben Fletcher. “I thought what they were trying to do is expose us on the glass, so that’s why they went big.”
As the Owls took a 23-16 lead with 8:04 remaining in the first half, the duo had combined for 13 points.
“Starting out, it stymied us a little, but once they got us moving, that’s when we were able to get closeouts and drive some of those guys on the perimeter,” commented Fletcher on FAU’s length.
Miller scored seven of his points to begin the second half as FAU built a 46-30 lead with 15:45 remaining.
“Baba, today, 4-of-5 from the line and 3-of-7 from three,” said Florida Atlantic head coach John Jakus. “Big clutch moments. It wasn’t as comfortable as I wanted, but not giving up the lead on the road was a good thing.”
Jayden Reid, who led the Bulls with 16 points, started a 9-0 run with a three-pointer from the right baseline. Kobe Knox ended the run with his own triple to cut the Owls’ lead to 60-53 with 4:43 to play.
“Obviously, we went down early, but just having a next-play mentality, we are always in the game,” said Reid. “We came back a couple of games ago with seven minutes left, we were down 20, so anything is possible. It’s just focus on the next play and the next defensive stop.”
South Florida made only 7-of-34 shots in the first half, but rallied to shoot 45 percent in the next 20 minutes.
“We chart it every day,” Fletcher explained of shot evaluation. “We have had three days of shooting it at a very high level and it’s disappointing. We have just got to hope that they fall at the right time.”
Florida Atlantic out-rebounded USF, 45-37, while scoring 12 points off of 10 offensive boards.
“The rebounding, if you look was 10, eight, and eight across the frontline,” said Jakus. “We changed some things up. Eight blocks for us is nothing normal, so the rim protection was a step forward also.”
Guard Kaleb Glenn is the Owls leading scorer and deposited a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.