BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic’s men’s basketball team continues to roll. The Owls raced to an emphatic 85-67 victory over the Wichita State Shockers in an American Athletic Conference showdown on Jan. 15.
FAU (12-6, 4-1) snatched its third straight victory after the wire-to-wire win over the Shockers (10-8, 2-3). Kanaan Carlyle and Isaiah Elohim each scored 18 to lead the way for the Owls. Devin Williams notched a career-high 14-point, 10-rebound double-double with three blocks.
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“A bunch of great things to go around,” FAU coach John Jakus said. “I just feel like at this point we need to stay in our process. We’re pleased with where we are, but we actually feel like we have better basketball in front of us.”
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FAU will look to make it four in a row on Jan. 18 at Temple in a battle of the Owls. Here are the takeaways from FAU’s 12th win of the season:
Owls suffocate Shockers in blowout victory
FAU’s Devin Williams dunks against Wichita State in Boca Raton on his way to a 15-point, 10-rebound double double.
Florida Atlantic’s defense was on point against Wichita State. The Owls held the Shockers to 39.7 percent shooting from the floor, 27 percent from three-point range.
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Additionally, the Owls came away with nine blocks and six steals on the night while forcing 12 turnovers. Xander Pintelon’s four blocks led the way, and Niccolo Moretti came up with three steals.
“Our best players are our hardest workers,” Jakus said. “When that happens, everyone’s held accountable.”
FAU was able to flip the floor in a hurry against the Shockers, scoring 17 points off those 12 Wichita State turnovers.
“When you start making shots, and you play defense like that, it becomes contagious,” Jakus said.
FAU shoots hyper efficiently from the field
FAU enjoyed one of its best offensive performances this season in terms of efficiency, shooting 56 percent from the floor, while knocking down 7 of 21 three-pointers.
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FAU followed up a strong second-half against Memphis with another one against the Shockers. After shooting 51 percent from the floor in the first half, the Owls took it a step further after halftime, going 60 percent from the floor — and 44 percent from beyond the arc — in the second-half, allowing them to pull away for a comfortable victory.
“I think we clean up what pick up on,” Jakus said, regarding his team’s recent stretch of strong second halves. “We don’t let bad things that happen carry us through. This one just happens to be a group that you can be honest with at halftime and they grow.”
As they’ve done all season, the Owls flexed their depth. Four Owls — Carlyle, Elohim, Williams, Pintelon — scored in double-digits, and Niccolo Moretti dished out a career-high eight assists off the bench.
Notably, FAU’s leading scorer, Devin Vanterpool, only scored four points on 1-for-7 shooting.
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“You can be a great basketball player and not score,” Jakus said. “I have zero concern. I think he was 1-for-9 at Tulane, and the next two games were as beautiful as can be. I imagine his next one will be fine.”
Devin Williams notches first career double-double
The win was momentous for a couple of Owls: Williams and Elohim.
Williams earned his first career double-double. A top-5 shot blocker in the country, Williams also added three blocks. The performance follows up an impressive 12-point, 6-rebound, 7-block performance against Memphis on Jan. 11 as he continues to solidify himself as the anchor of the Owls on the interior.
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“To be honest, blocking shots has been kind of natural for me,” Williams said. “There’s a lot of big [centers], and I’m obviously not the biggest, or the strongest. So I’ve got to find different things to bring a defensive presence. I feel like I just have really good timing and really good instincts.”
As for Elohim, he surpassed his previous career-high of 16 points with an 18-point showing against Wichita State. Elohim was highly efficient from the field, shooting 7-of-8 from the floor, and 1-of-2 from three-point range.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Devin Williams career high double-double helps FAU beat Wichita State
