Brandon Weatherspoon scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds as the host Florida Atlantic Owls continued their impressive surge with a 70-63 victory over Western Kentucky on Saturday night in Boca Raton, Fla.
Florida Atlantic (21-1, 11-0 Conference USA), ranked 21st in the nation, extended its program-record winning streak to 20 in a row and swept the season series against the Hilltoppers (11-11, 3-8 C-USA). Western Kentucky lost its fifth consecutive game.
The Owls also matched their program record for wins in a season and improved to 13-0 at home.
It was not the most stellar performance, however.
Florida Atlantic struggled early from the field and shot 37.1 percent overall while turning the ball over 14 times.
The Owls, who finished with five steals, were also not as effective at creating turnovers as they have been for most of this season — at least until the final minutes of the game.
Vladislav Goldin hit a pair of huge shots twice in the final two minutes after Western Kentucky cut its deficit to three points.
Johnell Davis hit a pair of free throws to put FAU ahead 67-60. After Western Kentucky’s Dayvion McKnight answered with a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 67-62, Davis turned the ball over, but then made up for his mistake and came up with a big steal at the other end.
Western Kentucky did not make a field goal over the final four minutes of the game.
But what did keep FAU ahead most of the game was its long-distance shooting.
Led by Weatherspoon’s four made threes in six attempts, FAU shot 13 for 38 from beyond the arch while the Hilltoppers made just two of 13 attempts.
Weatherspoon led a balanced scoring effort as seven Florida Atlantic players finished with at least six points.
Jordan Rawls led Western Kentucky with 17 points while McKnight and Emmanuel Akot each totaled 16 points and combined for 11 rebounds.
Davis finished with nine points despite shooting 2 for 7 from the field and Alijah Martin had eight points and seven rebounds.
–Field Level Media