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| 71 88 |
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- UALR ran out of gas midway through the second half and couldn’t keep pace as Florida Atlantic remained perfect in Sun Belt Conference play with an 88-71 victory on Saturday at FAU Arena.
The game was televised nationally by ESPN2.
UALR, which played Thursday night at Florida International, had its four-game winning streak snapped. Florida Atlantic, which improved to 7-0, benefited from a much larger and more enthusiastic crowd than is normally seen there.
UALR shot 46 percent from the field and 42 percent from three-point range, but the Trojans struggled to defend on the inside without fouling. As a result, UALR battled foul trouble the entire second half. Only one player -- Montrell Thornton -- fouled out, but the Trojans finished the game with three others playing with four fouls.
Solomon Bozeman tied his career high with 26 points to lead UALR. Bozeman made his first five three-point attempts of the game before cooling off late. Chuck Guy added 15, but 12 of those points came in the first half. UALR struggled to get anybody else involved.
Florida Atlantic shot 50 percent from the field, shot the same 42 percent from three-point range and made 22 of 37 free throws.
But the biggest statistic of the game was rebounds. FAU held a 42-27 advantage in rebounds, including 15-5 in offensive rebounds.
FAU also exploited a size advantage at the four spot with Kore White scoring 22 points to lead the Owls.
UALR turned back a couple of FAU runs to get to within 62-56 with 11:48 left as Bozeman made 1 of 2 free throws.
But Derrick Bails fouled FAU’s Alex Tucker, who made two free throws, and then UALR turned the ball over on consecutive possessions. The second led to a dunk by FAU’s Jordan McCoy for a 66-56 score.
UALR hung around that 10-point deficit for quite a while, missing opportunities to cut the lead as FAU continued to dominate rebounding.
The Owls were able to put the Trojans away from there.
The game was televised nationally by ESPN2.
UALR, which played Thursday night at Florida International, had its four-game winning streak snapped. Florida Atlantic, which improved to 7-0, benefited from a much larger and more enthusiastic crowd than is normally seen there.
UALR shot 46 percent from the field and 42 percent from three-point range, but the Trojans struggled to defend on the inside without fouling. As a result, UALR battled foul trouble the entire second half. Only one player -- Montrell Thornton -- fouled out, but the Trojans finished the game with three others playing with four fouls.
Solomon Bozeman tied his career high with 26 points to lead UALR. Bozeman made his first five three-point attempts of the game before cooling off late. Chuck Guy added 15, but 12 of those points came in the first half. UALR struggled to get anybody else involved.
Florida Atlantic shot 50 percent from the field, shot the same 42 percent from three-point range and made 22 of 37 free throws.
But the biggest statistic of the game was rebounds. FAU held a 42-27 advantage in rebounds, including 15-5 in offensive rebounds.
FAU also exploited a size advantage at the four spot with Kore White scoring 22 points to lead the Owls.
UALR turned back a couple of FAU runs to get to within 62-56 with 11:48 left as Bozeman made 1 of 2 free throws.
But Derrick Bails fouled FAU’s Alex Tucker, who made two free throws, and then UALR turned the ball over on consecutive possessions. The second led to a dunk by FAU’s Jordan McCoy for a 66-56 score.
UALR hung around that 10-point deficit for quite a while, missing opportunities to cut the lead as FAU continued to dominate rebounding.
The Owls were able to put the Trojans away from there.
