Good morning. FAU men's basketball team (10-3) remains in the Associated Press Top 25 for the ninth consecutive week, coming in at No. 17 in the latest AP poll.
 
Florida Atlantic played in just one game the previous week, a 72-68 loss to FGCU. Junior center Vlad Goldin, the nation's leader in field goal percentage at 74.5%, recorded his second career 20+ point game with 21 points on 7-9 shooting. Junior guard Johnell Davis added 17, continuing his dominating six-game stretch in which he has averaged 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.2 steals per game.
 
The Owls have wrapped up their non-conference season with a 10-3 record in which they played the third toughest schedule in the nation and took down two AP-ranked teams: No. 12 (at the time) Texas A&M by a score of 96-89 and a thrilling double overtime win over No. 4 (at the time) Arizona in a thrilling 96-95 double overtime victory.

What else can you find mixed into today’s Brew?

🏀 FAU men’s hoops begins inaugural AAC campaign with a win
📝 A 2023 FAU Athletics retrospective from the desk of Brian White
🦉 And much, much more

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Pirates Walk the Plank. The No. 17 Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team (11-3, 1-0 AAC) began their inaugural AAC campaign with a 79-64 win over ECU (7-7) on Tuesday evening.
 
Despite a close battle most of the evening, the Owls pulled away with a 14-1 run to close the game. It was another balanced night of scoring, with junior guards Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin both dropping 20+ points for the second time this season. With 11 points and 11 rebounds, Vlad Goldin tallied his fourth double-double of the season.
 
Entering the night already over 1,000 career points and at 499 rebounds, Davis became just the fifth Owl in school history to join the 1,000 points, 500 rebounds club with his 20-point, six-rebound outing.

All nine players who entered the game for Florida Atlantic recorded at least one assist, giving the Owls a 21-6 advantage over the Pirates.

“We had so many guys step up and get us the win against a very good basketball team,” head coach Dusty May said in the post-game presser. 

Florida Atlantic will hit the road for their first AAC away game in a matchup against Charlotte on Saturday, Jan. 6. Tip-off will be at 4pm ET and will air on ESPN+. 

Stock Up is brought to you by Go Solar Power—receive a complimentary Solar and Tesla Powerwall Savings Plan today. Receive a $2,000 rebate check at installation for being an Owl fan!

🔼 A Banner Year. FAU Vice President and Director of Athletics Brian White addressed Owls fans in a letter summing up what an incredible year 2023 was for the Department of Athletics.

Some of the things he included were:

• Joining the American Athletic Conference

• An epic Final Four run

• Continued academic success—for 17 consecutive semesters, our student-athletes have maintained a cumulative GPA above 3.0.

• Transformative gifts that will help change the face of FAU Athletics for years to come, including $7.5 million from Eleanor R. Baldwin to kickstart renovations to our basketball facility and $5 million from the Haggerty family to create the Hagerty Family Athletics Village, which includes the Hagerty Family Track and Field Complex, the Tom Oxley Athletic Center, Abessinio Court at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena, the Kimberly V. Strauss Tennis Center, FAU Swimming Facility, FAU Softball Stadium, FAU Soccer Stadium, FAU Baseball Stadium, and FAU Beach Volleyball Complex.

Read the entire letter for more on the improvements being made at the Elly, the multi-phase renovation at the Tom Oxley Center, the new lighting at the Kimberly V. Strauss Tennis Center, improvements to the FAU Baseball and Softball Stadiums, and much more.

🔼 May and Sullivan Walk Into a Bar. There’s no punchline to this one. Florida Atlantic University has announced the dates for its weekly Basketball Coaches Show Presented by Duffy's Sports Grill, which begins Tuesday, Jan 9 at 6:30pm ET with men's head coach Dusty May, women's head coach Jennifer Sullivan, and host Frank Forte.

The weekly shows are recorded live at Duffy's Sports Grill on St. Andrew's Boulevard in Boca Raton. That first Jan. 9 show will air the following night at 6:30pm ET on Fox Sports 640 AM South Florida.

Fans are encouraged to attend and listen live to May and Sullivan discuss their teams and take advantage of Duffy's dinner and beverage specials. Based on schedules and availability, other guests from around Florida Atlantic Athletics will join the weekly shows. 

The weekly guests will be shared in advance of each show on the Florida Atlantic Athletics social media channels. Go here for the show schedule.

🤔 PARADISE TRIVIA

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Setting Owls Up for Success. During the match-up against Illinois at the Jimmy V. Classic, Florida Atlantic senior guard Jalen Gaffney dished out a career-high ___ assists out of the 23 total from the team.

Think you know the answer? Scroll to the bottom to find out!

🦉 ONE BIG THING

Now That’s Grand. It may have happened over the break, but we still must recognize MBB player Johnell Davis, who was named AAC Player of the Week after hitting 1,000 career points!

😁 TRUST YOUR SMILE

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📬 FORWARDED BY A FRIEND

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📅 THE WEEK AHEAD

Wednesday 1/3

(No Activities Scheduled)

Thursday 1/4

🏀 Women’s Basketball @ SMU @ 8pm ET on ESPN+ | Live Video | Live Stats 

Friday 1/5

(No Activities Scheduled)

Saturday 1/6

🏀 Men’s Basketball @ Charlotte @ 4pm ET on ESPN+ Fox Sports South Florida | Live Audio | Live Stats

Sunday 1/7

🏀 Women’s Basketball @ North Texas @ 3pm ET on ESPN+ | Live Video | Live Stats 

🦉 Click here to view the entire FAU Athletics Calendar

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Seven!

Check out some of Jalen Gaffney’s impressive stats from his ‘22-’23 season:

• Played in 38 games and made 23 starts in his first season with the Owls after transferring from UCONN

• Dished out 89 assists on the season, which ranked second on the team

• Averaged 4.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game

• Scored a season-high 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range in the win over Eastern Michigan

• Recorded 11 points and knocked down 3-of-6 from 3-point range in the win over Albany

• Grabbed a season-high seven rebounds while scoring eight points in the defeat against Middle Tennessee

• Dished out a season-high seven assists in the home overtime win over Louisiana Tech, which tied Giancarlo Rosado for the most assists in a single game in 2022-23

🦉 Have a great Wednesday, y’all