Florida Atlantic’s Alijah Martin got carried away just seconds from a Sweet 16 berth, leading to his coach having to apologize.
The sophomore guard attempted and failed to execute a fancy windmill dunk as No. 8 FAU was already guaranteed a 78-70 win over No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson with less five seconds remaining in their second-round NCAA Tournament game on Sunday.
Following the attempt, Nationwide Arena filled with boos at the act which can be seen as unsportsman-like.
FAU coach Dusty May appeared to apologize to FDU head coach Tobin Anderson, who the game announcers said was upset by the dunk, while shaking hands at the end of the game.
Martin scored 14 points in the win as Florida Atlantic advances to face Tennessee in the East Region semifinals on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
This is not the first time the Owls allegedly dismissed the Knights’ efforts in the NCAA Tournament, according to Anderson and his staff.
“They were on the floor right before we came out here,” Anderson said during a video captured at practice. “Thomas heard them talking over there.”
[An assistant coach continued] “I was walking behind. You guys were in the huddle. They were walking in the hallway. All they said was, “They’re ready to go home. They did their thing, but they look like they’re ready to go home.” That’s all they kept saying to each other.”
“Are we ready to go home?” coach Anderson asked his group. “We don’t look and act like a team that’s ready to go home.”
Fairleigh Dickinson was just the second No. 16 to upset a No. 1 seed in NCAA tournament history, but it ends without a Sweet 16 appearance for the New Jersey team.
This will be the first Sweet 16 appearance in program history for Florida Atlantic.
“Hats off to FDU,’’ May said. “Incredibly hard to prepare for. Such a tough matchup. And their scrappiness, physicality, was exceptional. We just made enough plays to win. We settled in against their press and just had enough in us.’’