The Aztecs threw what appeared to be a potential knockout punch at the Owls in the early minutes of the opening game during Saturday's Final Four action.
After the Owls scored the first five points of the contest, the Aztecs ripped off a 14-0 run over the next four minutes and appeared to be on the cusp of taking complete control of the game before the under-12-minutes media timeout.
Instead, Florida Atlantic answered with a big swing of its own.
The Owls rebounded from their cold spell with a 16-3 run, balancing the scales and essentially resetting the game with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. All told, they went on to outscore the Aztecs by a 35-19 margin following the first five-and-a-half minutes to take a 40-33 lead into halftime.
An impressive 6-of-14 showing from beyond the arc during the first half contributed to the Owls' success, with Nick Boyd setting the tone with three made threes and a team-high nine points before the break.
The Owls then picked up right where they left off to begin the second half, building a game-high 54-40 lead with 14:56 remaining when Alijah Martin was fouled shooting a three and subsequently knocked down all three of his free-throw attempts.
Martin would score 19 of his game-high 26 points during the second half to help the Owls build that big margin.
It was a dominant performance through 25 minutes of action for a No. 9 seed playing in the Final Four, and while the final outcome didn't fall in their favor, it is still a performance worth celebrating and a Cinderella run that won't soon be forgotten.
