BOCA RATON — No. 22 Florida Atlantic escaped Sunday’s home game against North Texas with a 66-63 win behind another Johnell Davis masterclass.

The junior’s go-ahead deep triple with 0.4 seconds remaining wasn’t his only winning play of the game. He attacked the offensive glass, played standout defense, and came up with timely bucket after timely bucket all before burying a contested triple that gave the Owls (17-4, 7-1 AAC) the late lead. Davis finished with 28 points on 8-of-16 shooting, went 6-of-9 from behind the arc, grabbed eight rebounds and came up with two steals.

“Coach drew up a play for me to get to my left, and I tried to step back and get a foul,” Davis said. “I do it in practice a lot and it never goes in. I’m just happy it went in this time.”

The Mean Green (12-6, 5-1) never laid down, forcing FAU to make adjustments on both ends of the floor throughout the contest. Their guards caused a lot of issues for head coach Dusty May and company, but FAU’s offensive push down the stretch sealed the Owls’ sixth victory in a row.

Here are three takeaways from FAU’s thrilling win over North Texas.

Heroics from Davis kept the Owls in the fight as Goldin battled foul trouble

Both Vlad Goldin and Tre Caroll struggled early on. The duo combined for five points and three rebounds in their 17 first-half minutes. The tough start saw May go with a smaller line up to close out the half, and in big chunks of the second half as well.

And just as he’s done all year, Davis stepped up to shoulder the load. When FAU would hit a speedbump running its sets, there was Davis, hitting a timely triple or corralling an offensive rebound that gave the Owls another opportunity. In the first half, FAU shot 35 percent from the field and went 5-of-14 from behind the arc and 1-of-5 from the free-throw line.

But Davis led all scorers headed into the break with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, and knocked down 3-of-4 triples. The second half was more of the same. As Goldin found his rhythm late in the second half, the Owls dominated the battle on the boards and used that momentum to trade blows with the Mean Green.

“Vlad had a couple of early fouls, therefore he didn’t play a lot in the first half,” May said. “He wasn’t as aggressive as usual in the second half. He got in the flow, and was very impactful … in the second half we got 46 percent of our shots back. And if Vlad’s in foul trouble the entire second half there’s no way that happens.”

Defensive adjustments gave FAU rhythm in second half

The Owls, especially in the first half, couldn’t find a rhythm on defense. The Mean Green have skilled guards with lightning-quick first steps, and their pick-and-rolls or isolation calls often resulted in a blow-by, followed by a quick dump pass from the attacking guard.

North Texas’ Jason Edwards was particularly surgical at the top of the key, and opened up plenty of clean looks with his drives. He finished the first half with 9 points on 4-of-9 shooting, but scored just five points in the second half.

May made the decision to choke those types of looks by flash double teams, picking up the North Texas ball handler as he crossed half court. The adjustment stifled a lot of the driving paint touches, and forced North Texas to knock down some tough three-pointers instead, which it did in the second half.

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“We’re not extremely pleased with our defensive performance today,” May said. “Either side of the ball we’re pleased to win, but we’ve got to clean things up and get a lot better. North Texas had great looks.”

Another close conference encounter, another win for Florida Atlantic

Sunday’s win marked the Owls’ fourth conference game that was decided by three points or less. If you include last week’s overtime win over UTSA, that makes five out of eight AAC games that have come down to the wire this year.

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For May, it’s not always as much fun as it looks from the stands.

“It’s not very beneficial,” May said. “It’s tough, it’s rugged, it’s ugly. We prefer the 'Beach Boys,' but we know we have to be equipped to win any style of play or physicality. That’s a good basketball team, they have a lot of new pieces. I would assume if we continue to get better and grow, we’re going to see them in March.”

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: No. 22 FAU Owls defeat North Texas Mean Green in AAC basketball