Florida Atlantic University’s men’s basketball team will begin its American Conference Championship tournament run as the No. 7 seed, facing No. 10 Temple on March 11 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. The game is scheduled for a 9 p.m. ET tip-off and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The matchup marks the third meeting this season between Florida Atlantic (17-14, 9-9) and Temple (16-15, 8-10). Florida Atlantic won both regular season games against Temple, coming from behind in the second half of each contest to secure victories of 79-73 on Jan. 18 and 77-73 on Feb. 26.
In their most recent outing, Florida Atlantic lost to Wichita State, the No. 2 seed, with a final score of 88-70 after a competitive game that featured ten lead changes. Junior guard Kanaan Carlyle led FAU with a season-high 26 points, including 20 in the first half.
Head Coach John Jakus is leading the Owls in his second year after being named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award during his debut campaign last season. Under Jakus’ leadership, FAU has achieved its eighth consecutive winning season and participated in postseason play for four straight years, including an appearance in the National Invitational Tournament last year.
Freshman guard Josiah Parker was recognized as the American Conference’s Freshman of the Year and led all league freshmen with six double-doubles this season. Redshirt sophomore guard Devin Vanterpool earned Most Improved Player honors and was named to the All-Conference third team while leading FAU in scoring and rebounding averages.
Temple enters under Head Coach Adam Fisher, now in his third year with the program. Senior guard Derrian Ford ranks fourth in conference scoring at 18.1 points per game, while junior guard Gavin Griffiths is second only to FAU’s Devin Williams in blocks per game within the conference.
The winner of Wednesday’s opening-round game will advance to play No. 6 North Texas on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
