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Florida Atlantic’s magic carpet ride will now head to Houston.
The ninth-seeded Owls are off to the Final Four after taking down No. 3 Kansas State, 79-76, in an instant classic.
The Wildcats trailed by four at the half but stormed out of the locker room to a 19-8 run to take a seven-point lead, their largest of the night.
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Jalen Gaffney (12) and Bryan Greenlee (4) of the Florida Atlantic Owls celebrate after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament at Madison Square Garden March 25, 2023, in New York City. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
But that didn’t deter the Owls. Kansas State didn’t score for close to five minutes, and FAU dropped 10 unanswered points to take a four-point lead with four minutes to go.
FAU drilled a 3-pointer to take a 70-64 lead with less than three minutes to play. Several seconds later, the Wildcats’ Keyontae Johnson fouled out. Alijah Martin went to the line and drilled two free throws, and the Owls’ eight-point lead with 2:44 to go was the largest of the night. It was a 15-1 run for FAU.
New Yorker Marqkuis Norwell drilled a deep three-pointer to cut the deficit to three points with just over 90 ticks left. The Owls missed a one-and-one, but they grabbed their own rebound and netted a layup to go back up five.
The Florida Atlantic Owls celebrate after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament at Madison Square Garden March 25, 2023, in New York City. (Elsa/Getty Images)
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Norwell hit a pair of free throws to again make it a three-point game with 1:06 remaining. The Owls air-balled a three, and it was Wildcats’ ball with 39.2 seconds left. Norwell missed a layup, yet the Owls only made one free throw on the other end. A wild, deep 3-pointer by Kansas State made it a one-point game with 22.8 seconds to go.
FAU’s Michael Forrest knocked a…
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