Bulls Can't Outsmart the FAU Owls, Fall 78-62

I’m a bad news first kind of girl. So from tonight’s game I’m going to give you what didn’t and did work for the Bulls - in that order - during their cross-state showdown against the FAU Owls.

So to begin, they lost 78-62. *sigh*

Negatives:

• Blown opportunities. Example A: being up by as many as 10 points early, but allowing the Owls to go on an 11-0 run and grab a six-point lead with five minutes to play in the first half. Example B: coming within five during the second half, but allowing FAU shoot the lights out and run away with a 16-point victory.
• GERDARIUS TROUTMAN. This guy hit four three-pointers, three of which came back-to-back-to-back. And one at the buzzer to close out the first half and put the Owls up 38-34. Ouch.
• Speaking of three-point shooting… the Bulls couldn’t connect from beyond the arc until 16 minutes into the game, and overall hit just 3-of-15 compared to FAU’s 11-of-21 (52 percent). That just hurts.
• Foul trouble. During the first half, junior guard Geno Thorpe thought he was fouled under the rim, got a little fresh with the officials after not getting the call … and was issued a technical. Not long after Troy Holston created a 4-point play for the Owls, and by the end of the game, four players had four personal fouls. One being junior forward Bo Zeigler who scored 0 points, and had 0 rebounds... in 22 minutes.
• FAU’s shooting the ENTIRE SECOND HALF. Okay the Owls were just ridiculous coming out of the gate. They went 12-for-19 from the field (63 percent) and 5-for-6 from the three-point range (83 percent). I mean they literally hit almost every three. COME. ON.

So, yeah, ONTO A BRIGHTER NOTE...

Positives:

• Decent runs. During the first half, the Bulls had a few baby runs, like 5-0, 4-0, etc. but at one point also put up 10 unanswered points, and held FAU to a near six-minute scoring drought. So that’s good.
• Tulio Da Silva continued to do his thang. The freshman forward recorded two new career highs: 14 points, 10 rebounds. I think Bulls fans everywhere are looking forward to seeing what this guy does throughout the rest of the season. Turn up, Tu!
• Luis Santos had what could have possibly been his best game ever. The sophomore forward came off the bench to play extended minutes in place of junior center Ruben Guerrero (six points, one rebound), and finished with a career high 11 points and seven rebounds. I like it.
• After playing three games in six days, the squad will enjoy some time off for Thanksgiving weekend before hosting Kennessaw State on Monday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. Though there is plenty work to be done, it’ll be nice for the team to have a breather, rejuvenate, and enjoy the holiday.

By the way, nice to meet you guys! I’m Sandy. Happy Thanksgiving! I like pumpkin pie if anyone wants to welcome me to the team or anything (…Collin).