FAU basketball: Dusty May believes Owls ready for San Diego State thanks to these 3 victories
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HOUSTON — Florida Atlantic basketball head coach Dusty May didn't need long to find an on-court reference point for the Owls' Final Four opponent San Diego State.
He watched the most similar comparison (North Texas) win the NIT Championship on television Thursday night and played the next closest (Tennessee) eight days ago in Madison Square Garden.
Strong, physical, defensive-minded: The Owls have heard it before and emerged victorious en route to the Final Four.
"You can never be prepared. It's a mindset," May said Thursday at NRG Stadium in Houston. "Our expression is, you're either the hammer or the nail despite your size. Both teams are probably going to be the hammer on Saturday night.
"It's going to be an extremely tough game, but fortunately we have seen teams with a similar level of discipline and approach to the game that they play with."
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The Magic Number: 63
San Diego State (31-6) enters the Final Four with the No. 24 overall scoring defense, holding opponents to just 62.9 points per game.
The Aztecs have held three teams (No. 12 College of Charleston, No. 13 Furman, No. 6 Creighton) under that average in the NCAA Tournament. The only team to exceed that average — tournament No. 1 overall seed Alabama — did so by just one point and was held 18 points below its scoring average.
Florida Atlantic, which averages 78 points per game, has exceeded 63 points in three of its four NCAA Tournament games, narrowly falling short in a 62-55 win over Tennessee in the Sweet 16.
The Owls proved their willingness to grit out low-scoring affairs in the regular season with a pair of victories over North Texas: 50-46 on Dec. 29 in Texas and 66-62 on Jan. 14 in Boca Raton.
Nathan Mensah focal point of the defense
San Diego State's defensive integrity begins on the interior with 6-foot-11 big man Nathan Mensah. He averages 5.9 rebounds and nearly two blocks per game.
Mensah's Aztec teammates were effusive in their praise for the forward on Friday.
"He allows for us guards to pressure up a little bit more because if we get beat, we know he's going to have our back," Butler said. "He's going to clean it up at the glass. And also And also he can guard guards.
"We can switch and he can stay in front. He can guard them, make them shoot tough shots. And he's just a huge impact for us."
Between Butler and Mensah, the Aztecs have claimed Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons.
San Diego State slows it down
May has no illusions about the pace San Diego State will attempt to impose against the Owls on Saturday night.
He said he's comfortable, however, that the Owls will be able to adapt their style to meet the challenge.
"Our first practice we talked about if we're going to be a championship program ... we need to play different styles and paces," May said. "So we've played North Texas, they limit possessions, and we played UAB, and there might be 30 more possessions in that game.
"We obviously love the up-and-down game. But we're comfortable grinding it out and figuring out ways to score enough points to win the lower-possession games as well."
Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: FAU basketball: Why Dusty May's Owls are ready for San Diego State style
