Field Level Media
18 Mar 2023, 10:10 GMT+10
Nick Boyd slashed to the basket for the decisive hoop with 2.5 seconds left as Florida Atlantic nipped Memphis 66-65 on Friday night in an East Region first-round matchup in Columbus, Ohio.
The ninth-seeded Owls (32-3) earned the first NCAA Tournament win in school history and advanced to face Fairleigh Dickinson, which stunned Purdue earlier in the evening to become just the second No. 16 seed to upset a No. 1 seed.
Boyd got the ball in the corner with seconds remaining and dribbled hard to his left, finishing just over the outstretched arms of two Memphis defenders. The eighth-seeded Tigers (26-9) did not get off a final shot before time expired.
The teams exchanged the lead on athletic one-handed tip-ins in the final minute. Alijah Martin put Florida Atlantic ahead 64-63 with his putback with 57 seconds to go, only to watch DeAndre Williams answer for Memphis with 34 seconds left, giving the Tigers a 65-64 lead.
The Tigers went on an 8-1 run to take a 51-44 lead on Malcolm Dandridge's dunk with about 10 minutes left. However, the Owls made four 3-pointers -- the final two coming from Johnell Davis -- to forge a 60-60 tie with just under four minutes to play.
In the midst of that run, the Tigers' Kendric Davis injured his ankle and hobbled off the court in serious pain. Shortly thereafter, he was seen screaming at Dandridge, who then shoved him while walking to the bench.
That wasn't the only chaos that Memphis overcame in the second half.
After picking up two fouls in the first half, Williams committed two more fouls in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the second half. He only sat out for a few minutes despite the foul trouble and finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Additionally, Davis threw the ball away with the Tigers holding a one-point lead in the final seconds, leading to a tie-up with 5.5 seconds to go. That gave the possession back to the Owls, who inbounded to Boyd in the corner, setting up the winning drive.
Florida Atlantic created some first-half separation with a 17-4 run that turned a three-point deficit into a 25-15 advantage. The burst included nine points from Giancarlo Rosado, who came in averaging 5.6 points per game but led the Owls with 15 points on 6-for-6 shooting in this one.
Memphis eventually caught up at 29-29 on Jayden Hardaway's 3-pointer and later took a 35-31 lead into the break.
--Field Level MediaGet a daily dose of Memphis Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Memphis Sun.
More InformationHONOLULU, Hawaii: Pharmaceutical giants Bristol Myers Squibb and Sanofi have agreed to pay $700 million to Hawaii to settle a lawsuit...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said this week it will start using artificial intelligence (AI) in all...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Citigroup must defend itself against a revived lawsuit accusing the bank of facilitating and concealing a...
Gaza Faces Imminent Famine as Aid Blockade Enters 70th Day, UN Warns The entire population of Gaza is now at critical risk of famine,...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America,...
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania: People in Pennsylvania who are 21 or older could soon be allowed to legally buy and use marijuana. The state...
CUPERTINO, California: Apple's plan to introduce AI-powered search options on its Safari browser poses a major challenge to Google,...
FRANKFURT, Germany: Foreign workers have emerged as a critical force behind the euro zone's economic growth since the pandemic, offsetting...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks surged on Monday following news that the Trump administration had agreed to a 90-day reduction of...
SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stocks in Asia and the pacific have closed significantly higher following ceasefires in India-Pakistan hostilities,...
TOKYO, Japan: Toyota Motor Corp is bracing for a 21 percent decline in full-year profit, as the impact of President Donald Trump's...
HELSINKI, Finland: In response to rising geopolitical risks, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Estonia are preparing to roll out...