Photo Credit: Alex Hernandez (pictured - freshman Jason Boswell)
FIU Game Notes (PDF)
FIU (9-9, 1-2 C-USA) vs. East Carolina (11-6, 0-2 C-USA)
Teams - FIU Panthers (9-9 overall, 5-3 home); East Carolina Pirates (11-6 overall, 2-3 away)
Date - Saturday, Jan. 18, 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 Saturday's game with an overall record of 9-9 (1-2 C-USA) following a 52-36 loss to Old Dominion on Thursday, Jan. 16. East Carolina enters Saturday's game with an 11-6 (0-2 C-USA) record following a 78-67 loss at Florida Atlantic on Thursday, Jan. 16.
Rankings - FIU is not ranked in either poll. ECU 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 108-103 (.512 - seventh season overall) and 9-9 at FIU (.500 - first season). Â
ECU Head Coach Jeff Lebo - Coach Lebo (North Carolina '89) enters Saturday's contest with a career record at ECU of 67-50 (.573 - fourth season).
Series History - Saturday's game between FIU and East Carolina will mark the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Officials - Announced on game day
Panthers Host Pirates on Saturday
The FIU men's basketball team (9-9, 1-2 C-USA) looks to snap a current two-game conference losing streak, hosting the East Carolina Pirates (11-6, 0-2 C-USA) on Saturday, Jan. 18. Tipoff is slated for 5:00 p.m. ET from Lime Court at U.S. Century Bank Arena. It will mark the first-ever meeting between the two squads.Â
FIU is coming off a 52-36 loss to Old Dominion on Thursday, Jan. 16, in the program's inaugural Conference USA home game.Â
Senior
Tymell Murphy led the Panthers with 20 points, going 8-of-13 from the field and collecting a team-high six steals and three blocks. Redshirt senior
Rakeem Buckles added seven points (2-of-9) and a team-high five rebounds, while Murphy added four boards. Freshman
Dominique Williams added two blocks.Â
The Panthers enter this Saturday's action averaging 68.2 points-per-game, while shooting 44.3 percent from the floor and 31.0 percent from 3-point range. The Panthers are converting 66.7 percent of its attempts from the free-throw line. Defensively, FIU is allowing 70.0 points-per-game as the opposition is shooting 41.4 percent from the floor. The Panthers are out-rebounding their opponents 692-628, averaging 38.4 boards-per-contest.Â
Leading the Panthers in scoring is Murphy, who comes into Saturday's contest, averaging 16.4 points-per-game (No. 7 in the conference) on 60.2 percent shooting from the floor (No. 3 in the conference and No. 13 in the nation). The Brooklyn, N.Y., native is averaging 7.7 rebounds-per-contest (No. 10 in the conference) Leading the conference in rebounding (9.3 rpg) is Buckles, who ranks tied for No. 34 in the nation on the boards and is No. 19 in the conference in scoring.Â
FIU – East Carolina Series HistoryÂ
Saturday's game between FIU and East Carolina will mark the first-ever meeting between the two teams.Â
- FIU owns a 32-60 mark versus teams from the current C-USA.
- FIU is 6-4 in games played in the state of Florida this season.
- FIU is 3-4 on games played on Saturday's this season.
- FIU will be looking for the program's first home conference victory as a member of C-USA.
An FIU Victory Would....Â
- Improve FIU's record to 10-9.
- Give FIU a 2-2 record in conference play.
- Improve FIU's record versus East Carolina to 1-0.
- Give FIU a 6-3 record in home games in '13-'14.
- Give FIU a record of 2-3 in the month of January.
- Improve Coach Evans' record at FIU to 10-9.
- Improve FIU to 33-60 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 7-4 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 Saturday's game with 764-career points. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native is 24 points shy of cracking the Top 15 all-time in points at FIU. Murphy is averaging 16.4 points-per-game on 60.2 percent shooting from the floor.Â
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 for its second home contest of the week. So far this season, FIU has compiled a 5-3 record at home and is scoring 64.2 points-per-game on 44.4 percent shooting, while holding the opposition to 63.5 points-per-game on 37.8 percent shooting from the floor.Â
Perfect From the Line
Freshman
Jason Boswell enters Saturday'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. Â
Lights Out
Senior
Tymell Murphy enters Saturday's game with ECU shooting 60.2 percent (115-of-191) from the floor which ranks No. 3 in the conference and No. 13 nationally. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native's 60.2 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 (311-of-533) good for No. 1 all-time at FIU.Â
Dynamic Duo
Seniors
Tymell Murphy and
Rakeem Buckles enter Saturday's game with ECU having combined for 56 blocked shots (27 – Buckles; 29 – Murphy). That is the most by any duo among all Conference USA teams. FIU currently ranks No. 3 in C-USA in total blocks (80). The two have also combined for a conference-best 307 rebounds (139 - Murphy; 168 - Buckles).
Career Blocks
Senior
Tymell Murphy enters Saturday's contest having recorded 65 career blocked shots. The total ranks No. 7 all-time in FIU history. Murphy is one block shy of tying
Kenny Simms (2004-2006) at No. 6 (66).
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 168, good for No. 1 in the conference and No. 18 in the nation.Â
Raining Threes
Entering Saturday's game versus ECU, the FIU Panthers have converted at least one 3-point basket in 163-straight games, dating back to Dec. 20, 2008
Cleaning the Glass
Through 18 games this season, FIU has held a decisive advantage on the boards, out-rebounding the opposition, 692-628. Leading the way for FIU is redshirt senior
Rakeem Buckles, who is averaging 9.3 rebounds-per-contest. Following Buckles is senior
Tymell Murphy, who is grabbing 7.7 boards-per-game.
Now That's Impressive
Through 18 games this season, senior
Tymell Murphy has notched seven 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 11 times. Last year, the 20-point plateau was hit 14 times.
