March Madness at MSG: Florida Atlantic Doesn't Give a Hoot About Cinderella
NEW YORK-If one were penning a script about a plucky underdog school that made its way deep into a basketball tournament and based it upon the modern Florida Atlantic University Owls, that tome would likely be rejected for a lack of subtlety and nuance.
Upon Princeton's elimination at the hands of Creighton on Friday night, the ninth-seeded Owls are the lowest remaining seed among the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament's Elite Eight. An improbable ticket to the Final Four in Houston could be punched when the Owls face No. 3 Kansas State in the East Regional Final at Madison Square Garden on Saturday evening (6:09 p.m. ET, TBS).
Gaining its tournament entry through a dominant run through C-USA, the Owls (34-3) needed last-second heroics to get by Memphis in the first round before ending another underdog's reign, the famed Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, in the Round of 32. When the Owls pecked Tennessee to submission, MSG temporarily became an FAU home arena, the school's initials chanted throughout the sections and concourses once victory became more assured.
One can't even tell visiting Floridians to act like they've been there before: they've literally never been here before, as the Owls had only one prior NCAA Tournament appearance to their name prior to this season, a spirited but quick exit as a 15-seed when they won the Atlantic Sun in 2002.
All this and more makes FAU the quintessential Cinderella remaining as the Final Four looms. But the Owls are far from interested in a bedtime story.
"We don't feel like we're Cinderella," guard Alijah Martin said after the win over Tennessee on Thursday night. "We feel like we're supposed to be here, doing exactly what we're supposed to do. (It's a) credit to our coaches for getting us ready, players staying in the gym, getting ready, staying sharp, and just a lot of guys stepping up."
To their relative credit, the Owls haven't acted much like a Cinderella: detractors could complain about the way they disposed of the aforementioned Knights, closing things out with an unnecessary dunk while FDU was content to run the clock out. Entering the tournament with more than 30 wins, feasting on C-USA opponents most of the way, would also be like if Cinderella already had the gown, glass slippers, and the pumpkin coach without the fairy godmother's assistance.
FAU's vision of business as usual is anything but usual, at least in terms of Boca Raton basketball.
"We'll embrace it, whatever they want to call it. We're very, very confident in our abilities and those guys in the locker room," head coach Dusty May said. "We've never thought of ourselves in that regard just because of the success of our league and our guys being able to do what they did over a 20-game schedule. But we'll take it. Whatever gets the people cheering for us, we're open."
In another defiance of the Cinderella tropes, FAU refuses to flee when midnight ... or, in their case, the second half ... approaches. The Owls have proven nocturnal in more ways than one, as they've won each second half they've played over their tournament victories. A dominant final 20 minutes placed MSG firmly on their side over the final stages on Thursday, with a sizable Boca Raton-based contingent and perhaps even neutral fans painting Manhattan blue and red to the tune of a 40-28 advantage on the scoreboard. Johnnel Davis has been the definition of clutch in that span, averaging 15.3 second half points over his tournament trio.
Halftime adjustments, guard Nick Boyd (the hero with the buzzer-beater against Memphis) explained, allowed the Owls to tune themselves toward the SEC-style basketball centered on height and cutting down the passing lanes that created lay-ups against C-USA competition. This time, the Owls don't want to wait until halftime to adjust, as they'll be looking to quiet down the touted tandem of Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson on the other side of the sidelines.
FAU has spent this tournament defying the tropes of Cinderella, desperate to leave its slippers behind. But copying the famed princess' ending? They'll take it ... but only if it's a literal ending.
"I think it'll be a dream season 100 percent if we win the whole thing," forward Bryan Greenlee declared. But (we're) just really like a Dream Team, to play on such a great team with a group of guys that really doesn't care about personal stats, and just (has) everybody so locked in and laser-focused on just winning, it's been an unbelievable experience for me."
"I'm definitely going to soak it all in once this is over, but right now it's just on to the next game."
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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