When the horn sounded for the biggest victory in Florida Atlantic athletics history, Nick Boyd and Brian Greenlee jumped on the press row tables to celebrate.
Instead of going to the locker room, some of the Owls players made their way into the stands to sing “New York, New York” with their fans.
Florida-based Boca Raton, which has only competed in Division I for the past 30 years, and had just one previous appearance in the NCAA tournament, is now one win away from the Final Four.
The Owls used a second-half push led by Michael Forrest to upset fourth-seeded Tennessee 62-55 on Thursday night in the Sweet 16.
Ninth-seeded FAU (34-3) will play third-seeded Kansas State in the East Region Finals at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
“Yeah, our players definitely feel like they belong at this level,” said fifth-year coach Dusty Mays.
Even before the tournament started, this was arguably the greatest season in FAU history. Now The Owls are one of the biggest stories in all of the sports.
Boyd said, “We’re just a dysfunctional group.” “Unbreakable.”
Jonelle Davis led the Conference USA champions with 15 points and Forrest finished with 11, including eight straight, when FAU took control in the final 10 minutes.
The Volunteers (25–11), who were looking for the second Elite Eight appearance in program history, shot only 33% – including 6 of 23 from 3-point range. Josiah-Jordan James and Jonas Aidoo each scored 10 points.
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said, “Certainly proud of the effort these guys have given us all year through tough times with injuries, but when it ends like this, it’s always disappointing.” Because we want it all and come up short.”
Barnes has made 27 NCAA appearances with the four schools, but he has reached the Elite Eight only three times and gone to one Final Four.
The game got underway with Tennessee’s style and pace. The No. 1 defense in the country, according to KEMPOM Metrics, was holding FAU hard-pressed for shots from the rugged Southeastern Conference.
Then the Owls started hitting the 3-pointers they had been missing for the first 30 minutes.
“We got great shots even in the first half when they dominated us a little bit,” Boyd said. “Second half, they fell apart, we opened it up a little bit.”
Forrest made 3 in a row to put FAU ahead 41–39 with 9:49 left, the Owls’ first lead since the opening minute.
Forrest capped a personal 8–0 run with a driving layup that put the Owls up four.
Meanwhile, Tennessee couldn’t buy buckets. The Vols had a six-minute stretch during which they scored four points.
“Obviously we missed open shots, they missed open shots. But we were disappointed with the way we played. We knew we had to play hard, but we were up five points, so…” James said. , is walking behind.
Brandon Weatherspoon’s putback off a 3-point miss off the backboard made it 51–41 with 6:47 left.
The Vols had one more push left. James swiped a 3 with 3:33 left to cut the Owls’ lead to 55–50.
The Owls turned on the defense, getting a key stop that led to Boyd’s fast break to put FAU up 57–50 with 2:31 left.
The Owls salted it out with free throws from there, as orange-clad Vols fans booed out MSG and FAU fans dwindled.
Owls fans chanted “F-A-U!” Finally chant before exiting the Garden.
May compared Tennessee’s defensive physicality to rugby in the run-up to the game. He meant it as a compliment, and his boos showed they could play tough too.
“We feel like we’re physical, too,” Boyd said.