Live Updates: Men’s Final Four Arrives in Houston

“If you want to call us something, call us champ, call us the beach boys, but no Cinderellas,” Giancarlo Rosado, a sophomore forward, added.

The Owls’ run represented the contradictions and illogical character of this year’s N.C.A.A. men’s tournament, now emptied of traditional college basketball powers. It began in the shadow of, then turned directly against, the tournament’s foremost darling — 16th seeded Fairleigh Dickinson. Before the Owls won convincingly in the round of 16 and the round of 8 over two power conference teams, Tennessee and Kansas State, they struggled first against eighth-seeded Memphis, then against F.D.U., the smallest team in the nation.

With 12 minutes left in their round of 32 matchup two weeks ago in Columbus, F.D.U. looked to be on a gliding path to its second upset on the same court, after it toppled Purdue, a No. 1, two nights earlier. Demetre Roberts, a whirling, 5-foot-8 F.D.U. guard, made a 3-point shot to give his team a 5-point lead, drawing nervous and dejected looks from the Florida Atlantic players, who could have been close to packing up for the off-season.

The Owls, who won the Conference USA tournament, hurried back to the lead only around 90 seconds later, then controlled most of the remaining game, winning by 8.

Dusty May, Florida Atlantic’s coach, said that the game against Fairleigh Dickinson was “a little like playing us in practice,” with an upstart group of smaller and lighter players.

“Most of our guys play much bigger than what they are,” May said.

Two nights before the Fairleigh Dickinson game, F.A.U.’s prospects looked even bleaker. The Owls were down by 7 with less than 10 minutes to go against a fast and tall eighth-seeded Memphis, in a stadium that had cleared of some fans still in shock over the upset of Purdue. With much of the remaining late night crowd standing toward the end of a rowdy, neck-and-neck finish, Florida Atlantic sealed a 1-point win on a slashing layup by freshman guard Nick Boyd with 2 seconds to go. It was the school’s first-ever N.C.A.A. tournament victory.

“We’ve quadrupled the number of fans we had in our gym in Ohio for an N.C.A.A. tournament game,” May said after the game, referring to his team’s new look in March. He recounted how his team wanted to get to the arena early to watch the F.D.U.-Purdue game “and soak in the moment.”

“The lights are different,” he said of tournament, with wonder.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/04/01/sports/ncaa-mens-final-four