Sunday at Noon, two early American unbeatens meet in Fogelman Arena to see who can take the early lead in the Conference, as Tulane entertains Florida Atlantic.
The Tulane men are fresh off a 79-70 win on the road at East Carolina, a place where the Green Wave hadn’t tasted victory in eight years. That has the Wave at the early top of the American at 1-0, 10-4 overall.
FAU also won their AAC opener, as the Owls shellacked UTSA in Boca Raton, 110-70. It was the third time Florida Atlantic had cleared the century mark on the scoreboard this year, improving their season mark to 9-5.
Tulane coach Ron Hunter says the high-flying Owls are a handful.
“They love getting up and down the floor,” Hunter explained. “It becomes their style of play (against ours). Which style of play is going to win out? You can’t play Florida Atlantic just running up and down the floor. You’ll have no chance of winning.”
Tulane forward Scotty Middleton has started to hit stride for the Greenies. The junior transfer from Miami has hit the double digit mark three of the last five games the Wave have played, including 16 in that nine-point win over ECU last week, hitting over 50% of his seven attempts from beyond the arc. But it’s his and his teammate’s defense that is making the difference. Tulane is averaging over eight steals a game, one of the top teams in the American in that category. Against FAU, it’ll come down to slowing down that Owl O.
“We have to get back in transition,” Middleton shared with us, “limit their transition points, and play at our pace the whole time. Keep it at half-court, play at our pace and hopefully keep them below 75-points.”
The game features two of the top three teams in the league in blocked shots. Florida Atlantic leads the American, averaging almost six blocks a game, led by 6′ 10″ forward Devin Williams, who has blocked 40-shots in 14-games. Tulane is averaging over four-and-a-half blocks per contest as a team, with senior center Percy Daniels accounting for 27-blocks this year.
“Two really good teams going at it,” Hunter said. “Like I always say, the team that is going to win the game is the best defensive team.”
Tipoff between these early American Conference leaders is set for Noon Sunday in Fogelman Arena. After this game, the Wave hit the road for a Saturday afternoon matchup in San Antonio against UTSA.
