The month of January brought in American Athletic Conference play for Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team (9-7, 2-1 AAC). 

Their road started out rocky with a devastating home loss to Memphis University (12-3, 2-0). But, they snapped back against East Carolina University (8-7, 1-2 AAC) with a 2-point differential road win. 

On Jan. 8, the Owls continued on the road to take on the University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers (7-9, 0-3), where they came off with their second AAC win. FAU came out strong with a 5-point lead and the 49ers fought back, but the second half proved to be all the Owls as they dominated from both ends of the court. 

“It was a tale of two halves, but for us the second half defense [32%] that’s a step forward for us. We’re really thankful for that. So if we can be plus night on the glass, have less than 10 turnovers and have under 35% defense, we’ll take that every night,” said head men’s basketball coach John Jakus. 

Florida Atlantic’s forward Tre Carroll blocked a shot and following perimeter passing, guard Ken Evans Jr. took the opportunity to make the layup for the first points of the game, 2-0. The Owls have been averaging over 82 points per game, and a fast pass to guard Kyky Tandy in the left wing allowed him to quickly gather the open three, 7-2. 

At 16:48 forward Giancarlo Rosado clocked into the game for the 49ers. Rosado, a former player for FAU, is in his first season with Charlotte, averaging 12.1 points per game. He played a key part in FAU’s success during their Final Four stint in 2023 and their appearance in March Madness the following year. 

FAU’s center Matas Vokietaitis was subbed into the game and quickly made an impact. He pushed himself against Rosado to fight to the rim for a spin layup 11-8. At 10:48, he once again fought himself to the rim to push the Owls to a 7-point lead, 22-15. 

It was the second game of the season where Vokietaitis didn’t start for the Owls. In the last two games, both of which have been wins, head coach John Jakus has been testing the waters with Carroll as a part of the starting five over Vokietaitis. 

Turnovers once again presented an issue for FAU with three within a two-minute time frame, but they cleaned it up and ended the night with nine compared to Charlotte’s 13. 

The Owls entered a four minute scoring drought as Charlotte went on a 6-0 run and a layup by Rosado cut the 49ers deficit to one. Then, they made one of two free throws to tie the game back up for the first time since 2-2. Off the bench, guard Ben Brandford committed to the rim and drew the foul to give the 49ers their first lead of the game, 24-22. 

Miller answered back for FAU and made a jumper three to put them back on top. It became a shooting battle as each team remained within a 3-point differential. 

At the half, the Owls led 35-30 but neither team had a player in double-digit scoring. Statistically, Charlotte had a better shooting percentage than the Owls in all aspects but behind the free throw line. A large advantage for FAU came from rebounds; they had 23 over the 49ers 11. 

Entering the second half FAU continued along with their momentum from the first and Miller became the first player to reach double digits off an assist from Carroll that set Miller up perfectly for the dunk, 38-30. The Owls continued their stretch and went on a 12-5 run to start the half to quickly bring their lead up to 12. 

Miller ended the night with 20 points and seven rebounds, his second highest shooting night of the season. He came to FAU from Florida State University and thus far has exceeded his previous season averages by averaging 10.8 points per game and 7.2 rebounds. During his last year at FSU, he averaged 7.6 points and 4.9 rebounds. 

“I believe he’s [Miller] up in points, rebounds, assists, three-point shooting percentage is up almost 10%, he was two of two today. His ball screen usage is up and then his ball screen efficiency is up…If you’re up in all of that, that means he had a heck of a summer and I expect the next probably two months and hopefully maybe a little more people get to see it more often,” said Jakus. 

Charlotte was able to find their rebounding strength and came down with four compared to FAU’s one in a two minute frame  This adjustment helped propel the 49ers on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to six with nine minutes left. 

A 2-point jumper by Carroll pushed the Owls to 59-51 and helped to circulate their momentum once again. From that point on, they continued to outshoot the 49ers and with 18 seconds left a three-pointer by guard Miccolo Moretti secured the 75-64 win for FAU. 

Florida Atlantic heads back home on Jan. 12 to play the University of Alabama at Birmingham (9-7, 2-1 AAC). Tipoff for the game is set at 5 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN. 

Megan Bruinsma is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories email her at mbruinsma2022@fau.edu or DM her on Instagram @megan_bruinsma or X (Twitter) @MeganBruinsma.