MURFRESSBORO, Tenn. (Jan. 8, 2014) – The FIU men's basketball team (8-7, 1-1 C-USA) had its two-game winning streak snapped as it fell to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders by a score of 65-52 on Thursday night at Monte Hale Arena.
Senior guard
Dennis Mavin eclipsed the 900-point plateau, as he netted a career-high 31 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field to go along with four made from beyond the arc, tying a career-best. Mavin also played a full 40 minutes for the first time in his career. He did play 43 minutes at Florida A&M last season, but that did not account for a complete game (overtime).
Beyond Mavin, FIU struggled to get the rest of the offense to score. Redshirt junior
Adrian Diaz was 4-for-5 from the field, leading to eight points on the night. The Panthers shot 44.1 percent from the floor for the game, but turned the ball over 17 times. Middle Tennessee was strong from the field all night, as it shot at a 52.1 percent clip for the contest.
Diaz scored the first four points of the game for the Panthers, as the contest was knotted up at four at the 17:08 mark. Then trailing 9-7, Mavin drained his first three of the game with 14:23 to go in the first half, to give the Panthers their first and only lead of the game, 10-9. A 15-4 run starting at 12:18 really broke the game open, as Middle Tennessee jumped out to a 24-13 advantage. The Blue Raider lead increased to 12 at the 4:51 mark and a Jaqwan Raymond jumper with 2:11 to go in the first period gave the Blue Raiders their largest lead, 14, of the half. FIU entered halftime trailing 35-22.
FIU came out and made some stops early in the second half, but were unable to convert on the offensive end. Two free throws by Mavin did trim the lead down to 11, but Middle Tennessee scored seven of the next eight points to up its lead to 42-25. The lead would get bigger for the Raiders as they had a game-high edge of 24 points with 9:17 to go in regulation.
The Panthers slowly chipped away at the lead to close the game out. Mavin scored seven-straight points to knock the lead down to 14 with 3:09 remaining in the contest. The Blue Raiders would get it up to as many as 16 from there, but free throws by Mavin and a layup by junior
Daviyon Draper made it a 64-52 game. Middle Tennessee made one free throw at the end, resulting in a 13-point win for the Blue Raiders.
FIU is back in action this Saturday at 3 p.m. ET at UAB.
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 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 offers 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 $9.8 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/.
