BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Vladislav Goldin scored 19 points, Brandon Weatherspoon added 16 while not missing a shot, and No. 10 Florida Atlantic eased past Eastern Michigan 100-57 on Tuesday night.
Giancarlo Rosado and Brenen Lorent each scored 13 points for the Owls (2-0), who were playing for the first time with last season’s Final Four banner swaying over the court. FAU extended the nation’s second-longest home winning streak to 19 games, and shot 63% on the way to finishing with six players in double figures.
Only UCLA has a longer current home streak than the Owls. The Bruins — winners of 27 straight at Pauley Pavilion — host Long Island University on Wednesday. FAU broke a tie with Liberty and UMass-Lowell, both winners of 18 in a row at home.
Tyson Acuff scored 20 points and Legend Geeter added 13 for Eastern Michigan (1-2), which gave up a 12-0 run in each half. The Eagles fell to 0-26 against Top 10 teams and 3-49 in their Division I era against teams ranked in the AP Top 25. They haven't beaten a ranked team since topping then-No. 22 Michigan 89-83 on Dec. 17, 1997.
This one was over early — FAU got an alley-oop dunk from Goldin 6 seconds after he won the opening tip, and the Owls started 8 of 9 from the field on the way to a 20-5 lead just 5:13 into the contest. The lead was as much as 25 in the first half and 51-28 at the break. FAU led by as many as 44.
Eastern Michigan, through eight minutes, had one fewer point (11) than FAU had assists (12). And the Eagles didn’t get consecutive shots to fall until early in the second half; each of their first 10 makes was followed by a miss.
BIG PICTURE
Eastern Michigan: It was a return to Florida for EMU coach Stan Heath, who coached South Florida for seven seasons from 2007 through 2014. He also spent four years with the Lakeland Magic, winning the G League title with Orlando’s affiliate in 2021 before returning to his alma mater.
FAU: The home opener drew the biggest crowd in FAU history — 3,161 fans filling the small arena that, for now, doubles as the program’s practice facility. (There are plans to change that before long.) It was the seventh time in program history that more than 3,000 fans came to an FAU game; all of those instances have taken place in 2023, with the previous record of 3,130 getting set on Feb. 25 against UTEP.
UP NEXT
Eastern Michigan: Hosts Cleveland State on Saturday.
FAU: Hosts Bryant on Saturday.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
