No. 9 Seed FAU's Run Continues To Final 4 After Comeback Vs. Kansas State

FAU became the first team to clinch a spot in the Final Four with a 79-76 victory over Kansas State in a thrilling Elite Eight contest Saturday at Madison Square Garden. The No. 9 seed Owls trailed 57-50 with 12 minutes remaining but rallied behind a balanced scoring effort and some clutch late defense as the No. 3 seed Wildcats went more than six minutes without a field goal late in the game.

Still, K-State managed to whittle an eight-point deficit down to a single point with 24 seconds left when Cam Carter hit a huge 3-pointer and then again on a Nae'Qwan Tomlin layup with eight seconds remaining. But Michael Forrest calmly drilled 4 of 4 free throws in the final 30 seconds to keep the Owls ahead. After he drilled two more free throws with 6.9 remaining, Kansas State could not get a potential game-tying shot off.

The win continues a magical run for the Owls, who are in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history. Prior to last week, the school had never won a game in any basketball postseason tournament. All of the sudden, it has reeled off four straight victories and is two wins away from becoming the worst-seeded team to ever win the national title.

Kansas State star Keyontae Johnson played just 18 minutes while battling foul trouble and could never get in a rhythm while missing long chunks of action. He fouled out with 2:44 remaining having scored just nine points. K-State guard Markquis Nowell became the second player since assists became an official stat in 1984 to post 20 points and 10 assists in back-to-back NCAA tournament games, but it wasn't quite enough.

FAU is the third No. 9 seed since Wichita State in 2013 and Penn in 1979 to advance to the Final Four. The Owls will play the winner of Sunday's South Regional final between No. 5 seed San Diego State and No. 6 seed Creighton in Houston next Saturday.