WATCH: Florida Atlantic Owls cut down the nets, advance to Final Four
The Florida Atlantic Owls continued their dream run through the NCAA Tournament by cutting down the nets and advancing to the Final Four. The Owls defeated the Kansas State Wildcats 79-76 in the Elite Eight, advancing to the Final Four as a nine-seed. After the win, the Owls went through all of the regular traditions involved with winning your region — including cutting down the nets as a team.
Florida Atlantic cuts down the nets
The path for the Owls wasn’t an easy one by any means, and their game with the Wildcats came down to the wire with Kansas State getting the ball and one last shot to tie the game. Unfortunately, they failed to get an attempt up at the rim because of the Florida Atlantic defense and the game ended with another upset from the Owls.
Florida Atlantic took down the Tennessee Vols in the Sweet Sixteen to earn their shot at Kansas State in the first place, and even took down another Cinderella story en route to their Final Four berth. 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson played them in the round of 32 after knocking off one-seed Purdue to open the tournament.
After finding itself down 57-50 with around 11 minutes to go, FAU battled back to take a 64-63 advantage on a big dunk from Goldin with 6:12 remaining. The Owls held the Wildcats without a field goal from the 8:39 mark up until 1:49 to play. They increased their lead to 72-64 with just under three minutes to play after a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Alijah Martin.
Kansas State refused to quit, however, battling back to cut the deficit to 77-76 with eight seconds remaining. But the Michael Forrest made a pair of clutch free throws from that point as the Wildcats turned it over on the final possession to end the game.
Next up is the Final Four for Florida Atlantic, where they will play the winner of Sunday’s San Diego State-Creighton showdown as the rest of the Final Four picture is filled in. Joining the Owls in securing a berth in the Final Four on Saturday was the four-seed UConn.
San Diego State and Miami both earned a spot in the Elite Eight after taking down the last two remaining one-seeds in Alabama and Houston. Texas is the highest-seeded team still currently playing in the tournament, coming into March Madness as a two-seed.
On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this article.