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FRISCO – Top-seeded Florida Atlantic captured its first Conference USA Basketball Championship title with a commanding 78-56 win over No. 3 UAB on Saturday night in the final contest of the 2023 C-USA Basketball Championships presented by TotalCare.
 
Sophomore guard Alijah Martin was named the tournament MVP after he capped off his week with 30 points in Saturday's contest, the most by an individual in a C-USA Basketball Championship final. He also pulled down a season-high 11 rebounds to tally his first double-double on the year. Martin shot 12-19 from the field and 5-10 from three-point range.   
 
After starting 4-13 from the field, the Owls sank six-straight attempts to build a 25-14 lead. FAU closed the half shooting 14-21 (.667). Johnell Davis, who finished with 18 points on 6-9 shooting, converted his last four shots and accounted for the Owls’ final six points of the half.
 
Despite FAU’s shooting cooling off in the second half, the Owls’ defense stood tall to prevent the Blazers from mounting a comeback as UAB shot just 3-13 from beyond the arc in the second half. The Blazers finished the game with a 19.2 percent clip (5-26) from long range.
 
FAU secured a spot in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history (2001-02) and will learn their seed and opponent in the 2023 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Selection Show at 5 p.m. CT Sunday evening on CBS.
 
2023 C-USA Men’s Basketball All-Tournament Team
Alijah Martin, Florida Atlantic (MVP)
Johnell Davis, Florida Atlantic
Jordan Walker, UAB
Tylor Perry, UNT
DeAndre Dishman, Middle Tennessee