FIU (3-2) VS TEXAS SOUTHERN (2-1)
Teams - FIU Panthers (3-2 overall, 1-0 home); Texas Southern Tigers (2-1 overall, 0-1 away)
Date - Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013
Location - Miami, Fla.
Arena - U.S. Century Bank Arena (5,000)
Tickets - 305-FIU-GAME (348-4263)
Television - N/A
Twitter - @FIUMensBBall
Facebook - FIUMensBBall
Live Video Streaming - www.FIUSports.com
Live Stats - www.FIUSports.com
Records - FIU enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 3-2 following an 85-39 win over Florida College on Thursday's home opener on Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena. Texas Southern enters Saturday's game with a 2-1 record following an 84-69 loss to Miami on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Rankings - FIU is not ranked in either poll.
FIU Head Coach Anthony Evans - Coach Evans (St. Thomas Aquinas '94) enters Saturday's contest with a career record of 102-96 (.516 - seventh season overall) and 3-2 at FIU (.600 - first season).
Series History - Saturday's game between the Panthers and Tigers will mark the second meeting between the two teams. FIU leads the series, 1-0.
Officials - Announced on game day
FIU back on the Parquet Saturday versus Texas Southern
After a blow-out win on the team's inaugural game from Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena, the FIU men's basketball team (3-2) is back on the parquet tomorrow night at 7 p.m. versus Texas Southern.
All FIU students in attendance are welcome to attend the post-game student party in the plaza featuring FREE food, along with a DJ. In addition to in-game and halftime contests, there will be a number of giveaways including color-changing souvenir cups featuring the men's and women's 2013-14 home basketball schedules. Admission is free for all students, and those in attendance are entered for a chance to win the Lucky Lifeguard Seat Upgrade, where one student and a friend will be selected for a special seat upgrade.
The Panthers enter Saturday's contest having won three-straight, including back-to-back dominant victories against Warren Wilson and Florida College. Four players reached double figures in points, as FIU used a 10-0 run to begin the game and a 22-12 run to open the second half to defeat the Falcons by 46 points. The victory improves the program's overall record in home openers to 26-7.
Redshirt senior
Rakeem Buckles led all scorers with 16 points, which continues his streak of scoring double-digit points to five games. Senior
Tymell Murphy went 5-of-10 for 10 points and 13 rebounds for his 11th career double-double. Sophomore
Jerome Frink posted 12 points, while junior
Marco Porcher Jimenez tallied 12, a season-high.
The Panthers' bench was nine points shy of matching Florida College's game total in points on Thursday. The 30-point performance from the bench was the team's highest since Dec. 22, 2012 when the Panthers hosted Saturday's opponent, Texas Southern, and had the bench post 32 points in the team's 48-45 victory.
FIU enters Saturday's game averaging 75.4 points-per-game and is shooting .464 from the floor, while holding opponents to 62 points-per-game with a .380 field goal average. The Panthers are shooting .363 from 3-point range and have out-rebounded opponents, 219-169, averaging 43.2 boards-per-contest.
On the year, Buckles, leads all Panthers averaging 19.0 points-per-game and 10.4 rebounds-per-contest. Three other Panthers are averaging double-figures in scoring, as Murphy (12.0 ppg), redshirt senior
Raymond Taylor (11.8 ppg) and Frink (10.4 ppg) round out the top four. Taylor owns a team-best 22 assists, while Murphy and Frink are knotted with 12 apiece.
FIU - Texas Southern Series History
Saturday's game between FIU and Texas Southern will mark the second meeting between the two teams.
An FIU Victory Would....
- Improve FIU's record to 4-2.
- Improve FIU's non-conference record to 4-2.
- Improve FIU's record versus Texas Southern to 2-0.
- Give FIU a 2-0 record in home games in '13-'14.
- Give FIU a record of 4-2 in the month of November.
- Improve Head Coach Anthony Evans' career record to 103-96.
- Improve Coach Evans' record at FIU to 4-2.
- Give FIU its 380th win (actual on-court record).
- Give FIU its 296th Division I win (actual on-court record).
A Little Home Cookin'
FIU enters its 29th season playing at U.S. Century Bank Arena where the Panthers are 207-169 all-time. FIU has had 17th winning season at home at U.S. Century Bank Arena, including a perfect 13-0 mark during the 1992-93 campaign.
- U.S. Century Bank Arena
- Opened - Feb. 1, 1986
- Capacity - 5,000
- Overall Record - 207-169
- Total Games - 376
- Largest Crowd - 4,638 (Michigan -11/23/98)
- Most Points - 123 (Palm Beach Atlantic - 11/25/95)
Cleaning the Glass
Through the first five games this season, FIU has held a decisive advantage on the boards, out-rebounding the opposition, 219-169. Leading the way for FIU is redshirt senior
Rakeem Buckles, who is averaging 10.4 rebounds-per-contest. Following Buckles is senior
Tymell Murphy, who is grabbing 8.8 boards-per-game.
The Gauntlet
The FIU men's basketball team has played five games in seven days to open up the 2013-2014 season and are scheduled to play seven games in 11 days. Following Saturdays game with Texas Southern, FIU will face Stetson on Monday, Nov. 18.
Raining Threes
Entering Saturdays game versus Texas Southern, the FIU Panthers have converted at least one 3-point basket in 150-straight games, dating back to Dec. 20, 2008.
Fans are encouraged to follow @FIUMensBBall on Twitter, and “Like” FIU men's basketball on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/FIUMensBBall) for the latest Panther basketball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/
