BOCA RATON, Fla. — T.J. Price made many of the big plays late in Western Kentucky’s 88-85 overtime victory Thursday at Florida Atlantic, but he said he was by no means the focal point.

That distinction went to his senior cohort, George Fant.

“We were just going from what they were giving us,” Price said. “They wanted to play behind George and not front him, and George is hard to stop. We were playing through George.”

Fant was a bully in the second half against FAU, scoring 19 of his 23 points after halftime. He also had 10 rebounds for his fifth straight double-double.

But it wasn’t just the second half. Fant scored 17 points from the 9:55 mark of the second half forward as the Tops tried to overcome a double-digit deficit.

“It was a huge factor,” FAU guard Marquan Botley said. “He’s a good player. He can really score the basketball. Going forward, we have to do a better job and learn from this game and figure out a way to stop that in the post.”

The only person who could really slow down Fant was Fant.

He fouled out with less than two minutes to go in overtime and spent some agonizing time on the bench with the result still very much in doubt.

“Oh my God, it was heartbreaking,” Fant said. “I knew T.J. had it, and I knew all of those guys would take care of it.”

— Zach Greenwell