MIAMI (Jan. 17, 2015) – Senior Dennis Mavin led three Panthers who scored  in double-digits, as the FIU men's basketball team (9-9, 2-3 C-USA) fell, 65-58, to former Sun Belt foe and current Conference USA member WKU on Saturday evening from Lime Court at FIU Arena.
 
Mavin paced FIU's offense with 21 points, marking his fifth game this season with 20-or-more points, as the Gainesville, Fla., native went 8-of-18 from the floor. Junior Daviyon Draper shot 7-of-11 for 15 points in the effort and picked up his first-career double-double, adding a team-high 11 boards. Redshirt junior Adrian Diaz chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds.
 
FIU pulled ahead early, taking an 8-5 lead into the first media timeout.  With the game tied at 13-all with 8:49 to play, Mavin went one-of-two from the free-throw line to give the Panthers back a lead. After a Hilltopper miss on the other end, senior Marco Porcher Jimenez drained FIU's first trey of the night, putting the Panthers ahead, 17-13. FIU was able to pull ahead by seven with five minutes remaining in the half after Mavin converted a fast-break layup to give the Panthers a 22-15 lead, while holding the league's No. 2 scoring team to just 2-of-13 over a 10-plus minute span. WKU hit a layup with under five seconds to play to send the game into halftime tied, 24-24.
 
Draper put FIU ahead by four following the second half's first media timeout at 15:38, as the Los Angeles native was fed a turnover at half court by senior Kris Gulley. Mavin followed on the Panthers next possession by hitting a three-pointer, as FIU led, 37-32 after WKU hit a short-range jumper on the other end. Draper put FIU back ahead by seven points right before the 12-minute mark when the forward finished a put-back of a long-range jumper from Porcher Jimenez. WKU's George Fant made both of his free-throws with 10 minutes to play to tie the game at 43-all, before a costly Panther turnover resulted in nine unanswered points for the Hilltoppers. Mavin brought FIU back within four points and forced a timeout with 6:02 to play, as the guard hit a fast-break layup.
 
Down by five points with 1:45 remaining in the game, WKU committed a backcourt violation and gave FIU the ball back. Off the inbound, Diaz got fouled under the basket and made both shots from the charity stripe to make it a three-point game. After a foul on the other end, Mavin broke through the Hilltoppers' defense for a quick two points, making it 61-58 with 43 seconds remaining.
 
FIU is off until Jan. 29, when the Panthers travel to Norfolk, Va., to take on Old Dominion. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

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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 FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.