Photo Credit: Sam Lewis (pictured - sophomore Jerome Frink)
FIU Game Notes (PDF)
FIU (9-8, 1-1 C-USA) vs. Old Dominion (7-9, 1-0 C-USA)
Teams - FIU Panthers (9-8 overall, 5-2 home); Old Dominion Monarchs (7-9 overall, 2-4 away)
Date - Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014
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 - PantherVision (www.FIUSports.com)
Live Stats - www.FIUSports.com
Records - FIU enters Thursday's game with an overall record of 9-8 (1-1 C-USA) following an 85-51 loss at Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Jan. 11. Old Dominion enters Thursday's game with a 7-9 (1-0 C-USA) record following an 81-70 win at East Carolina on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Rankings - FIU is not ranked in either poll. ODU is not ranked in either poll.
FIU Head Coach Anthony Evans - Coach Evans (St. Thomas Aquinas '94) enters Thursday's contest with a career record of 108-102 (.514 - seventh season overall) and 9-8 at FIU (.529 - first season).
ODU Head Coach Jeff Jones - Coach Jones (Virginia '82) enters Thursday's contest with a career record at ODU of 7-9 (.437 - first season).
Series History - Thursday's game between FIU and Old Dominion will mark the first-ever meeting between the two teams. The contest will mark the Panther's first conference game on Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena as a member of Conference USA.
Officials - Announced on game day
FIU Hosts Old Dominion in Inaugural C-USA Game at U.S. Century Bank Arena
Coming of a four-game road swing, the FIU men's basketball team (9-8, 1-1 C-USA) hosts the Old Dominion Monarchs (7-9, 1-1 C-USA) on Thursday, Jan. 16. Tipoff from Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena is set for 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Panthers return to the friendly confines of U.S. Century Bank Arena after being on the road for nearly a month. FIU played four road contests since its last home game, going 1-3, including the team's first-ever conference win as a member of C-USA. FIU is coming off an 85-51 loss at Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Unable to overcome a 22-0 run in the first half, the Panthers suffered their first conference loss of the season.
Senior
Tymell Murphy led all Panthers with 13 points and nine rebounds. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native converted 5-of-13 shooting from the floor and also notched a team-high three steals. Also scoring in double-figures was redshirt junior
Dennis Mavin, who added 12 points and grabbed three rebounds.
FIU finished the night shooting 35.3 percent from the floor (18-of-51) and converted 13-of-22 attempts from the free-throw line (59.1 percent). The Bulldogs finished the contest shooting 41.8 percent from the floor (28-of-67) and were 22-of-36 from the charity stripe. LA Tech held a 51-34 advantage on the boards, including 20 offensive rebounds, resulting in 20 second-chance points.
The Panthers enter this week's action averaging 70.1 points-per-game, while shooting 44.9 percent from the floor and 31.9 percent from 3-point range. The Panthers are converting 67.2 percent of its attempts from the free-throw line. Defensively, FIU is allowing 71.1 points-per-game as the opposition is shooting 41.6 percent from the floor. The Panthers are out-rebounding their opponents 664-591, averaging 39.1 boards-per-contest.
Leading the Panthers in scoring is Murphy, who comes into Thursday's contest, averaging 16.2 points-per-game (No. 8 in the conference) on 60.1 percent shooting from the floor (No. 2 in the conference and No. 17 in the nation). The Brooklyn, N.Y., native is averaging 7.9 rebounds-per-contest (No. 8 in the conference) and is the only C-USA player to rank in the top 10 in both scoring and rebounding. Leading the conference in rebounding (9.6 rpg) is redshirt senior
Rakeem Buckles, who ranks No. 22 in the nation on the boards and is No. 19 in the conference in scoring.
FIU – Old Dominion Series History
Thursday's game between FIU and Old Dominion will mark the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
- Thursday will mark FIU's inaugural Conference USA contest at U.S. Century Bank Arena.
- FIU owns a 32-59 mark versus teams from the current C-USA.
- FIU is 6-3 in games played in the state of Florida this season.
- Thursday's game will mark the first home game for FIU during the 2014 calendar year.
- FIU is 3-1 on games played on Thursdays this season.
An FIU Victory Would....
- Improve FIU's record to 10-8.
- Give FIU a 2-1 record in conference play.
- Improve FIU's record versus Old Dominion to 1-0.
- Give FIU a 6-2 record in home games in '13-'14.
- Give FIU a record of 2-2 in the month of January.
- Improve Coach Evans' record at FIU to 10-8.
- Improve FIU to 33-59 all-time versus C-USA.
- Give FIU its 386th win (actual on-court record).
- Give FIU its 302nd Division I win (actual on-court record).
- Improve FIU to 7-3 in games played in the state of Florida this season.
- Give FIU its 212th win all-time at U.S. Century Bank Arena.
- Give FIU its 255th win at home all-time.
Murphy Closes In
Senior
Tymell Murphy enters Thursday's game with 744-career points. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native is 44 points shy of cracking the Top 15 all-time in points at FIU. Murphy is averaging 16.2 points-per-game on 60.1 percent shooting from the floor.
There's No Place Like Home
After nearly a month away from Miami, FIU returns home to the friendly confines of Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena. So far this season, FIU has compiled a 5-2 record at home and is scoring 68.3 points-per-game on 45.9 percent shooting, while holding the opposition to 65.1 points-per-game on 37.9 percent shooting from the floor.
Perfect From the Line
Freshman
Jason Boswell enters Thursday's game with a perfect shooting percentage from the free-throw line (27-of-27). Having made 27-straight free throws, the Bronx, N.Y., native owns the school record for consecutive free throws made.
First Conference Victory
On Thursday, Jan. 9, the FIU men's basketball program picked up its first conference win as a member of Conference USA with a 71-60 win at Rice.
Lights Out
Senior
Tymell Murphy enters Thursday's game with ODU shooting 60.1 percent (107-of-178) from the floor which ranks No. 2 in the conference and No. 17 nationally. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native's 60.1 percent from the floor is the third-highest shooting percentage by a Panther in a single season in FIU basketball history. For his career, Murphy is shooting 58.3 percent from the floor (303-of-520) good for No. 1 all-time at FIU.
Dynamic Duo
Seniors
Tymell Murphy and
Rakeem Buckles enter Thursday's game with ODU having combined for 51 blocked shots (25 – Buckles; 26 – Murphy). That is the most by any duo among all Conference USA teams. FIU currently ranks No. 4 in C-USA in total blocks (72). The two have also combined for a conference-best 298 rebounds (135 - Murphy; 163 - Buckles).
Career Blocks
Senior
Tymell Murphy enters Thursday's contest having recorded 62 career blocked shots. The total ranks No. 8 all-time in FIU history. Murphy is one block shy of tying
Brandon Moore (2010-2012) at No. 7 (63).
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 163, good for No. 1 in the conference and No. 11 in the nation.
A Little Thievery
Redshirt junior
Dennis Mavin enters Thursday's game as the team's leader in steals with 28. Mavin is averaging 1.6 steals-per-game (No. 5 in the conference) and has recorded a career-high four steals three times this season. His 28 steals are a career-best for steals in a single season.
Raining Threes
Entering Thursday's game versus ODU, the FIU Panthers have converted at least one 3-point basket in 162-straight games, dating back to Dec. 20, 2008
Now That's Impressive
Through 17 games this season, senior
Tymell Murphy has notched six 20-point outings, while redshirt senior
Rakeem Buckles has recorded 20-or-more points three times and redshirt junior
Dennis Mavin has recorded one for a total of 10 times. Last year, the 20-point plateau was hit 14 times.
