The Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team will end its regular season on Saturday, March 7, with an away game against Wichita State. The match is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
FAU enters the contest with a record of 17-13 overall and 9-8 in conference play. The Owls have secured a spot in the American Conference Tournament and are currently tied for fifth place in the standings. They aim to complete a season sweep over Wichita State, who hold a 20-10 overall record and are 12-5 in conference games.
In their most recent outings, FAU achieved back-to-back home victories against Temple and Charlotte. Freshman guard Josiah Parker was named American Freshman of the Week for the seventh time this season after scoring a combined 19 points and collecting 20 rebounds across both games. His overtime layup against Charlotte secured FAU’s berth in the conference tournament. Junior guard Kanaan Carlyle received an honorable mention after averaging 20.5 points per game and making seven three-pointers during that stretch.
Head Coach John Jakus is completing his second year leading the program. In his first season (2024-25), he was a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award, which recognizes the nation’s top first-year head coach. Under Jakus, FAU has participated in postseason play for four consecutive years, including selection to the 2025 National Invitational Tournament.
The Owls have recorded eight straight winning seasons and feature eight international players from seven countries: United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Senegal, and France.
Parker leads all American Conference freshmen with six double-doubles this season and has earned more weekly freshman honors than any other player in the league—four since February alone. He posted notable performances such as scoring 21 points with 14 rebounds against Memphis on January 29 and achieving a freshman-high of 25 points versus Rice on February 11.
Redshirt sophomore guard Devin Vanterpool is having his best collegiate season so far, leading FAU in points per game (15.8), rebounds per game (6.2), steals (37), and three-pointers made (52). Nationally among guards standing at or below six feet four inches tall, Vanterpool ranks ninth in rebounds per game.
Carlyle reached his milestone of 500 career collegiate points earlier this season against UAlbany on December 13; he is second on the team with an average of 14 points per game and has made at least one three-pointer in nearly every appearance this year.
As a unit, FAU ranks tenth nationally in total blocks (169). Redshirt sophomore forward Devin Williams averages 2.7 blocks per game—second highest nationwide—and sits third all-time at FAU for single-season blocks with eighty so far.
Sophomore guard Isaiah Elohim leads the team by reaching double figures in scoring twenty-one times this season.
Wichita State’s Head Coach Paul Mills is finishing his third year with a cumulative record of fifty-four wins to forty-four losses at the school. Mills previously worked alongside Jakus as well as current FAU assistant coaches Demond Parker and Aditya Malhotra when they were all part of Baylor’s staff; Isaiah Austin played under them there as well.
Senior guard Kenyon Giles stands out for Wichita State by ranking second within the conference at nineteen-and-a-half points per game while redshirt junior center Will Berg leads his team with an average of eight-point-three rebounds—good enough for fourth place among all players in their league.
Defensively, Wichita State limits opponents’ three-point shooting percentage to just over thirty percent—the second-best mark among conference teams.
Historically between these programs, Florida Atlantic holds a slight edge over Wichita State having won three out of five previous meetings—including their last encounter on January fifteenth when FAU won eighty-five to sixty-seven.
After closing out regular-season play at Wichita State, Florida Atlantic will compete next week at The American Tournament held in Birmingham, Alabama starting Wednesday March eleventh; their exact opening round schedule will be determined following completion of remaining regular-season games.
