Photo Credit: Alex J. Hernandez (pictured - freshman Jason Boswell)

FIU Game Notes (PDF)

FIU (7-4) vs. Florida Gulf Coast (4-3)

Teams - FIU Panthers (7-4 overall, 4-1 home); Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (4-3 overall, 1-2 away)
Date - Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013
Location - Miami, Fla.
Arena - U.S. Century Bank Arena (5,000)
Tickets - 305-FIU-GAME (348-4263)
Television - FOX Sports 1 - Adam Alexander (play-by-play) and Mike Gminski (color analyst) will call the action. Channel 70 (Cable); Channel 652 (SD)/1652 (HD) (AT&T U-verse); Channel 32 (SD) / 832 (HD) (Atlantic Broadband); Channel 732 (Comcast Xfinity); Channel 219 (SD/HD) (DirecTV); Channel 150 (SD/HD) (Dish Network).
Twitter - @FIUMensBBall
Facebook - FIUMensBBall
Live Video Streaming - N/A
Live Stats - www.FIUSports.com
Records -FIU enters Saturday's game with an overall record of 7-4 following a 77-59 loss to Nova Southeastern on Tuesday, Dec. 3. Florida Gulf Coast enters Saturday's game with a 4-3 record following a 90-72 loss to Iona on Sunday, Dec. 1.
Rankings - FIU is not ranked in either poll. FGCU 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 106-98 (.520 - seventh season overall) and 7-4 at FIU (.636 - first season).
FGCU Head Coach Joe Dooley - Coach Dooley (George Washington '88) enters Saturday's contest with a career record at Florida Gulf Coast of 4-3 (.571 - first season)..
Series History - Saturday's game between FIU and FGCU will mark the sixth meeting all-time between the two teams with the Eagles leading the series history, 3-0 (actual on-court 3-2. FU vacated two wins due to NCAA sanctions). The last meeting between the two squads resulted in a 76-73 win for FGCU on Dec. 13, 2012 in Ft. Myers, Fla.
Officials - Announced on game day

FIU Hosts FGCU in a Sunshine State Showdown on Saturday
The FIU men's basketball team (7-4) will host the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (4-3) on Saturday, Dec. 7, from Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena. The game, televised on FOX Sports 1, will tip off at 4:07 p.m., with Adam Alexander and Mike Gminski calling the action.

The FIU Athletic Department will honor women's basketball standout, 2013-14 Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year, Naismith Trophy Early Season Watch List, John R. Wooden Top 30 Watch List and "Wade Watch" List honoree Jerica Coley by retiring her No. 22 jersey at halftime of Saturday's contest.

The Panthers are coming off a 77-59 loss to Nova Southeastern on Tuesday. Fourteen 3-pointers by NSU, coupled with 23 turnovers by the Panthers resulted in the team's first home loss of the season.

Redshirt senior Rakeem Buckles earned his fifth double-double of the season and eighth of his career, with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Redshirt junior Dennis Mavin also scored in double-figures, tallying 13 points on 4-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-8 from the line. Senior Tymell Murphy added nine points and junior Marco Porcher Jimenez contributed eight.

FIU comes into Saturday's contest averaging 72.4 points-per-game, while shooting 46.1 percent from the floor and 33.1 percent from 3-point range. The Panthers are converting 67.6 percent of its attempts from the free-throw line. Defensively, FIU is allowing 66.5 points-per-game (No. 3 in the conference) as the opposition is shooting 39.2 percent from the floor (No. 2 in the conference). The Panthers are out-rebounding their opponents 456-366, averaging 41.5 boards-per-contest. FIU's 456 total rebounds currently lead the nation.

Leading the Panthers offensively is Murphy, who comes into Saturday's game averaging 15.6 points-per-game (No. 12 in the conference). Buckles is second on the team in scoring, averaging 15.0 points-per-game (No. 16 in the conference) and leads the team in rebounding 10.3 boards-per-game (No. 3 in the conference). Both Murphy and Buckles have combined for 42 total blocks – the most by any duo in C-USA this season.
 
FIU – Florida Gulf Coast Series History
Saturday's game between FIU and Florida Gulf Coast will mark the sixth meeting all-time between the two teams.

    - FGCU leads the series history, 3-0 (actual on-court 3-2 - FIU vacated two wins due to NCAA sanctions).
    - The last meeting between FIU and Florida Gulf Coast resulted in a 76-73 win for FGCU on Dec. 13, 2012, in Ft. Myers, Fla.
    - FIU is 28-17 all-time versus teams from the Atlantic Sun Conference.
    - Saturday will mark the team's second encounter with a team from the A-Sun this season (defeated Kennesaw State on Nov. 10).
    - FIU holds a 2-1 edge in the series history at U.S. Century Bank Arena.
    - FIU's most-decisive victory in the series was a 78-50 win on Nov. 26, 2002.
    - The Panthers are looking to snap a three-game losing skid to the Eagles.
    - Head Coach Anthony Evans has never faced the Eagles.

An FIU Victory Would....

    - Improve FIU's record to 8-4.
        - Improve FIU's non-conference record to 8-4.
    - Snap a three-game losing skid to the Eagles.
        - Improve FIU's record versus FGCU to 3-3.
         - Give FIU a 5-1 record in home games in '13-'14.
        - Give FIU a record of 1-1 in the month of December.
        - Improve Head Coach Anthony Evans' career record to 107-98.
        - Improve Coach Evans' record at FIU to 8-4.
    - Improve FIU to 29-17 all-time versus the Atlantic Sun Conference.
        - Give FIU its 384th win (actual on-court record).
        - Give FIU its 300th Division I win (actual on-court record).
    - Give FIU its 211th win all-time at U.S. Century Bank Arena.
    - Give FIU its 254th win at home all-time.
    - Improve FIU to 6-1 in games played in Florida this season.

Dynamic Duo
Seniors Tymell Murphy and Rakeem Buckles enter Saturday's game with Florida Gulf Coast having combined for 42 blocked shots (22 – Buckles; 20 – Murphy). That is the most by any duo among all Conference USA teams.  

Hot Start
Through 11 games, FIU is 7-4, having won seven of the team's last nine games. The seven wins also marks the best start through the first 11 games for a first-year head coach at FIU as Anthony Evans has recorded a 7-4 mark to begin his Panther coaching career.

Buckles Taking Care of the Boards
Redshirt senior Rakeem Buckles registered a career-high 17 rebounds versus Georgia State on Saturday, Nov. 30. The Miami native's season total for rebounds is 113, good for No. 1 in the conference and No. 2 in the nation.

That's A Lot of Games
Saturday's contest with Florida Gulf Coast will mark the Panther's 12th game of the season. FIU is one of only six teams to have played 11 games as of Dec. 6, 2013 – Morehead State, Western Carolina, Tennessee-Martin, UNC-Wilmington and Abilene Christian.  

Lucky No. 13
Senior Tymell Murphy was nearly perfect from the line versus the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats on Thursday, Nov. 21, going 13-of-14 from the charity stripe. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native made the first 13 before missing his final attempt of the night. The 13-consecutive made free-throws tied the school record held by Patrick McDonald (vs. Arizona – Dec. 1, 1986).

A Little Thievery
Redshirt junior Dennis Mavin enters Saturday's game as the team's leader in steals with 20. Mavin is averaging 1.8 steals-per-game (No. 6 in the conference) and has recorded a career-high four steals three times this season. His 20 steals are a career-best for steals in a single season.

Raining Threes
Entering Saturday's game versus Florida Gulf Coast, the FIU Panthers have converted at least one 3-point basket in 156-straight games, dating back to Dec. 20, 2008.

500 and counting
On Sunday, Nov. 10, senior Tymell Murphy scored his 500th point as a member of the FIU men's basketball team during the squad's 66-58 win at Kennesaw State. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native enters Tuesday's contest with 640-career points.