No. 14 Florida Atlantic outlasts No. 4 Arizona 96-95 in double overtime in Las Vegas

Florida Atlantic, which went on to edge Arizona 96-95 in double overtime just off the Strip, initially looked more like a common low-major opponent than the mid-major power it is aspiring to be.

But that didn’t fool UA coach Tommy Lloyd. He scheduled Florida Atlantic knowing that the Owls had nearly everyone back from their Final Four run, using again a pesky four-guard lineup full of confident veterans who had played together for years.

“When we went up, I thought the chances of us continuing this were probably pretty slim,” Lloyd said. “To their credit, they dug back in.”

What Lloyd didn’t know — what none of the 7,207 fans at T-Mobile Arena couldn’t have possibly known — was how the Owls would return. Nor for how long.

Despite No. 4 Arizona roaring to a 17-3 lead, No. 14 FAU came back with an 11-2 run of its own in the first half, and the two teams continued trading mini-runs until locking each other up in a tense, one- or two-possession game toward the end of regulation and during the final two overtime periods.

The Owls rode a variety of circus-style and other shots by guard Johnell Davis, who scored 35 points, to outlast an Arizona team that received a career-high 21 rebounds from center Oumar Ballo and several clutch shots from guard Caleb Love, who scored 26 points but missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer just before time expired.

“All in all, that was a fun, exciting game, a great experience for us,” Lloyd said. “Obviously, we would have liked maybe one more play to go our way, but we’re going to be better for this. That’s why we set up this schedule.

“These guys did an incredible job and showed tremendous character today.”

Well, it could have been considerably more fun for the Wildcats. Love’s final shot could have fallen in, which would have moved the Wildcats to 10-1 entering their final Pac-12 season.

“I figured one of them was gonna have to make a play off the dribble, and we got a shot that,” Lloyd said. “Caleb’s a big shot taker, and he’s a big shot maker.

“So I feel good about the look, and it was just in and out. I mean, I if that thing holds in there, we all probably feel a little bit different.”

Love said he thought the shot was going in, but that he should have driven into the paint with about three seconds left when he instead chose to go up with it.

“I tried to create some space and get the shot up,” Love said. “But I learned from the shot for sure.”

Lloyd spoke repeatedly about lessons learned, about how the game would help the Wildcats going forward. The two players UA selected for interviews, Love and freshman guard KJ Lewis, agreed.

“It was a game of runs and credit to them — they have big time players, experienced players who make big-time shots towards the end,” Lewis said. “But like coach Lloyd said, we’ve got a bunch of winners and dogs. There was no quit in us. I think we stayed really poised down the stretch, even when they made their run at us. It’s gonna help us in the long run.”

There were almost too many runs, too many potential inflection points, to count.

In the second overtime, the ride went like this: FAU took a 93-88 lead after Jalen Gaffney hit a jumper and 3-pointer midway through the period. But UA’s Kylan Boswell hit a 3-pointer and Love hit two free throws with 1:27 left to tie it at 95.

Then, with 57 seconds left, FAU’s Giancarlo Rosado hit 1 of 2 free throws and Love missed a close-in shot with 43 seconds to go. And, after FAU’s Alijah Martin missed a 3-pointer, the Wildcats had their 11 seconds to set up a game-winner.

They called timeout but couldn’t find an open shot after driving and passing, with Love’s shot bouncing off the rim.

“What a college basketball game,” FAU coach Dusty May said. “Very proud of our guys.”

The loss dropped Arizona to 9-2, while FAU moved to 10-2. It was the Wildcats’ first loss in 10 games played in Las Vegas under Lloyd.

Love led Arizona in scoring with 26 points but was 8 of 25 from the field. Ballo had 13 points to go along with his 21 rebounds.

Davis’ 35 points led FAU; he was 15-of-27 shooting, spraying the ball in from all over the floor.

At the end of the first overtime period, Davis broke free to drive to the basket for a layup with 10 seconds left to give FAU an 84-82 lead, but Love picked up a foul from Gaffney as he drove the right side of the court. Love hit both ensuing free throws, and the game remained tied when Gaffney missed a difficult jumper at the buzzer.

Ballo set his new career-high in rebounding by pulling down his 17th with 5:23 to go in regulation. He had 16 against Colorado in UA’s 78-68 win over the Buffaloes at McKale Center last season.

Davis went over the 30-point mark when he hit two free throws with 58 seconds left in the first overtime period, giving FAU an 82-79 lead. But Love hit a 3-pointer with 37 seconds left to tie it again.

“I just took what the game gave me,” Davis said. “The shots that were open, I just took them.”

In the first overtime period, the game was tied at 75 after two minutes when Love missed a dunk but FAU missed on the other end and sent KJ Lewis to the line, where the freshman guard hit both free throws to put UA up by two.

But Davis returned to hit a 17-foot turnaround jumper and Alijah Martin hit a 3-pointer to give FAU a 80-77 lead with 1:48 left. UA guard Pelle Larsson then hit a turnaround to cut FAU’s lead to 80-79 entering the final minute.

It went that way over and over. Every time FAU went ahead by a bucket or two, the Wildcats answered. Davis tried to keep his teammates optimistic during timeouts.

“When I was in the huddle with the team I just kept telling them ‘Believe, believe and we gonna come up with the W,’” Davis said.

In regulation, Arizona trailed FAU 71-70 with 1:33 left, but Ballo blocked Davis and Boswell picked up the rebound, leading to a 3-pointer from the right wing by Love that put the Wildcats up 73-71.

FAU’s Vlad Goldin dunked to tie the game with seven seconds, and the game went into overtime when Boswell drove downcourt and missed an eight-footer.

There were many more tense moments.

“This felt like a February game with a conference championship on the line as far as energy and effort,” May said. “Obviously neither team is at late-season form quite yet. We’re still figuring ourselves out, learning a lot about ourselves.

“But from my seat and my perspective that was a high level basketball game.”

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