The magic carpet journey from Florida Atlantic will now go to Houston. The ninth-seeded Owls defeated No. 3 Kansas State by a score of 79–76, sending them to the Final Four. In the half, the Wildcats were down by four points, but they went on a 19-8 run to grab their greatest lead of the game, seven points, after the break.
But the Owls were unaffected by that. FAU scored 10 baskets in a row to take a four-point lead with four minutes left after Kansas State went nearly five minutes without scoring.
A 3-pointer by FAU gave them a lead of 70-64 with less than three minutes remaining. Keyontae Johnson of the Wildcats fouled out a short while after. With 2:44 remaining, the Owls had the biggest lead of the game—eight points—after Alijah Martin made two free throws from the line. FAU went on a 15-1 run.
With just over 90 seconds left, Marqkuis Norwell of New York sank a long three-pointer to reduce the margin to three points. The Owls missed a one-and-one opportunity, but they recovered their own missed shot and made a layup to retake the lead.
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With 1:06 left, Norwell made a pair of free throws to bring the score back to three points. With 39.2 seconds left, the Owls airballed a three, and the Wildcats had possession of the ball. Norwell missed a layup, but the Owls only converted one of their two free throw attempts. With 22.8 seconds left, Kansas State’s wild, deep 3-pointer brought the score within one point.
Michael Forrest of FAU made a pair of free throws to re-gain a three-point lead, giving the Wildcats 17.9 seconds to score. Once more, they reduced it to one, and with 6.9 seconds left, the Owls headed to the line for two attempts. Once more, Forrest connected on both, preventing Kansas State from attempting a shot as the final buzzer sounded.
With 14 offensive rebounds to Kansas State’s 5, the Owls put on a show on the offensive glass, while the Wildcats only had 17 defensive rebounds. The Owls utilized their trips to the charity stripe as well, shooting 18-for-22 while Kansas State only managed to go 12-for-18.
