No. 24 FAU wins battle of the Owls, topping visiting Temple 80-68

By COLBY GUY (Associated Press)

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Johnell Davis scored 17 points, Alijah Martin and Brandon Weatherspoon each had 16 and No. 24 Florida Atlantic beat Temple 80-68 on Thursday night in a battle of the Owls.

FAU (20-5, 10-2 American Athletic) pulled away with an early 15-2 run. Weatherspoon hit two 3-pointers during the spree, and Nick Boyd had four 3-pointers in the half. Boyd and Vladislav Goldin each finished with 12 points.

“Weatherspoon is an emotional leader,” Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May said. “It was awesome to see him getting his production back up and I thought his three steals were the separators.”

On Sunday, FAU will be at first-place South Florida in a conference showdown.

Temple (8-17, 1-11) has lost 10 straight, last winning against Wichita State at home Jan. 7. Jordan Riley led Temple with 19 points.

Temple had a 7-0 run midway through the second half to pull with two points. Weatherspoon countered with five straight points for FAU.

FAU forward Giancarlo Rosado returned from a knee injury sustained Jan. 14 against UAB. He had two points, three rebounds and a block in eight minutes.

“It was amazing (having him back),” Martin said. “His nickname is quarterback. He is throwing that thing around, getting that chase action and stuff like that. He opens up our offense and we missed that.”

Florida Atlantic extended its home sellout streak to 17, going 16-1 during the run.

“Shoutout to our student section,” May said. “I thought the energy was off the charts again. The students are here early and add a lot of positive energy to the group.”

UP NEXT

Temple: Hosts UTSA on Sunday.

Florida Atlantic: At South Florida on Sunday.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball