NCAA Tournament 2023
- Florida Atlantic beats Markquis Nowell 79-76
- UConn beats Gonzaga to reach Final Four
Associated Press
Sunday 26 March 2023 02:38 BST
Alijah Martin, Vlad Goldin and ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic became the first- and lowest-seeded teams to reach this year’s Final Four as the Owls withstood another big game by Kansas State’s Markquis Nowell on Saturday night to defeat the Wildcats 79-76.
FAU, making only their second NCAA tournament appearance, won the East Region at Madison Square Garden and will travel to Houston to play the winner of Sunday’s South Region Finals between Creighton and San Diego State.
“I’m assuming the forecasters will put us fifth in the Final Four,” said Dusty May, FAU’s fifth-year coach.
The team with the most Division I wins this season had never won an NCAA tournament game before ripping off everyone in single digits four straight seasons to become the first No. 9 to finish the Final Four since Wichita State in the year Reached 2013, and the third since seeding began in 1979.
Nowell, the 5ft 8in New Yorker, was incredible again at Madison Square Garden with 30 points, 12 assists and five steals after finishing a sweet 16 game in which he set the NCAA tournament record with 19 assists set up. He didn’t get enough help this time.
Nae’Qwan Tomlin was the only other double-figure player for Kansas State with 14 points. Keyontae Johnson, the Wildcats’ top scorer, fouled with nine points.
Martin scored 17 points, including a big three on the stretch, the 7ft 1in Goldin had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Michael Forrest made four clutch free throws in the final 20 seconds for the Owls, who stayed steady when the Wildcats were late came press.
Cam Carter pulled a three from the wing with 22.8 seconds left to cut the FAU lead to 75-74, and Kansas State fouled and sent Forrest down the line with 17.9 seconds left. The senior made both three-point games.
Nowell found Tomlin for an 8.6 layup to bring the lead back down to one, and again K-State sent Forrest to the line. With 6.9 left, he did them both.
With no time-outs left, Nowell charged down the pitch, passed the ball outside the three-point line to Ismael Massoud and never got it back. FAU’s Johnell Davis brushed it off and time was up.
The Owls took to the dance floor to celebrate a historic moment for the school. FAU didn’t even have a basketball program until the late 1980s and has only been a Division I school for 30 years.
In Saturday’s other game, Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points and UConn secured their first Final Four appearance in nine years with an 82-54 win over Gonzaga. The Huskies have felt right at home in their first extended March Madness run since winning the 2014 national championship, playing their best basketball of an up-and-down season. UConn controlled the normally efficient Bulldogs at both ends in the West Region Finals. Drew Timme had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Gonzaga in his last collegiate game.
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