NEW YORK – Tennessee may be the higher-seeded team and favored, but Rick Barnes and the Vols aren't paying any attention to that.
Seeded No. 4 in the NCAA Tournament's East Region, Tennessee – which defeated No. 13 Louisiana in the first round and No. 5 Duke in the second – is set to face No. 9-seeded Florida Atlantic on Thursday night in the Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
FAU isn't just the Conference USA champion that's made a Cinderella run to the Sweet 16. Instead, the Owls are a red-hot 33-win squad that worked hard to get to this point – and Dusty May's team isn't backing down from anyone.
"We'll embrace it – whatever they want to call it," May said when it comes to FAU being considered a Cinderella team. "We're very, very confident in our abilities and those guys in the locker room. We've never thought of ourselves in that regard just because of the success of our league and our guys being able to do what they did over a 20-game schedule. ... But we'll take it."
While Tennessee is currently a 5.5-point favorite in Thursday's contest, Barnes is pretty shocked that the Owls aren't the favorites to win – and pretty much wishes that they were.
"We've talked a lot about it," Barnes said of having to play as the favorite. "I'm not sure we're not the underdog when you look at a team that's won 33 games and beat Florida – who beat us. When you win 33 games, you talk about a model of consistency. They have certainly done that and learned everything that they've got. Everybody you talk to about them, they rave about them as a team that really understands what they want to do together. 33 wins speaks for itself.
"With the mindset, we've talked about it all year long. Whatever our guys have to do to make them decide that we've got to go out and play at the highest level, they've got to do that. ... I just want to see them go out and do what we need to do to win."
One of the many highlights of FAU's team is its success on the offensive side of the ball. Heading into Thursday's matchup with Tennessee, the Owls are scoring 78.4 points per game while shooting 46.7% from the field. Although FAU was held to 66 points in its win over opening-round win over Memphis, the Owls responded with a 78-point performance against Fairleigh Dickinson in the second round.
The Owls' offense starts with Johnell Davis – a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard who averages 13.9 points on 50% shooting and is coming off a 29-point, 12-rebound outing against FDU. Alongside Davis, fellow guard Alijah Martin is scoring 13.1 points each outing for FAU.
"It's a challenge. It really is," Barnes said of defending FAU. "They shoot it with confidence. Really do a good job of knowing where each guy is on the court. They do a good job of getting in gaps, passing the ball, delivering it on the money. They've got some guys that have as quick of a release than anyone we've played against all year. If the pass is there, they don't need anytime to get it off. They spread it out and run really good offense.
"Like I said, 33 wins – to me – speaks for everything that they're about."
From Florida Atlantic's standpoint, the Owls haven't backed down from any opponent throughout its historic season – and that's not going to change against Tennessee. However, the Owls know how physical of a team the Vols are and that it's going to be a hard-fought battle.
"Most importantly, it's their intensity and their physicality," May said of what stands out to him about Tennessee. "They play every single possession like it's their last."
Tennessee and Florida Atlantic are scheduled for a 9 p.m. ET tipoff Thursday inside Madison Square Garden. TBS will be carrying the broadcast with Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Jim Jackson (analyst) and Allie LaForce (reporter) on the call.
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