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Panthers Welcome UTSA to Lime Court at FIU Arena on Thursday

THE GAME: FIU returns to action on Feb. 5 for a 7:30 p.m. matchup at home versus UTSA. The game between FIU and UTSA will mark just the third all-time meeting between the two teams, as the series is knotted up at one. The last time these two teams met was Feb. 13, 2014, as  FIU defeated the Roadrunners, 80-72. In that contest, five Panthers scored in double-figures, led by Dennis Mavin, who posted 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor. Tymell Murphy added 13 points, while Rakeem Buckles (12), Dominique Williams (11) and Cody Mann (10) all reached double-digits in scoring.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Three Panthers scored double-figures on Tuesday night, as the FIU men's basketball team routed the Florida Atlantic Owls, 64-56, from Lime Court at FIU Arena. Senior Dennis Mavin led all scorers with 18 points (6-of-11), while tying a career-high for assists with six. Redshirt junior Adrian Diaz drained 13 points (6-of-10), while grabbing a game-high nine boards. Sophomore Dominique Williams added 12 points (5-of-8) in the effort, with junior Daviyon Draper contributing nine points and three rebounds. A strong first half shooting, the Panthers finished the stanza shooting 64 percent from the field, in addition to shooting 67 percent from three-point range and led 36-16 after the first half. The Panthers' defense held Florida Atlantic to under 10 points until the 7:04 mark in the first half.
 
FIU RECORDS SECOND-STRAIGHT SEASON SWEEP OVER FAU: With a 64-56 victory over Florida Atlantic on Tuesday, FIU completed the season sweep of the Owls for the second consecutive season. Head Coach Anthony Evans is 4-0 against the Owls since joining FIU and the program has won six of the last seven matchups overall. Senior Dennis Mavin is also 7-1 as a player in the all-time series. The first three wins for Mavin came when he was player at Florida Atlantic in 2011 and 2012. After sitting out the two games in 2013 due to NCAA transfer rules, Mavin is a perfect 4-0 in the rivalry since joining the Panthers. 
 
SCOUTING UTSA: UTSA enters Thursday's contest at Lime Court at FIU Arena with a 10-10 overall record and a 4-5 mark in Conference USA action. The Roadrunners are coming off a split at home last weekend, where they picked up a 69-58 victory over a solid Middle Tennessee team before dropping Saturday's contest to one of the league's top teams in UAB, 65-57. As a team, UTSA is averaging 71.4 points-per-game while giving up 70.8 points-per-contest on defense. The Roadrunners are shooting at a 42.5 percent clip from the field, which includes a 33.8 percent mark from three-point range. Leading the way for UTSA is Jeromie Hill, one of the top scorers in C-USA. Hill is averaging 17.0 points entering Thursday, while also averaging 7.5 rebounds in 20 games of action. Keon Lewis has been another strong player for the Roadrunners, averaging 14.0 points and 3.5 assists. UTSA has four total players that are averaging double-digits in points, with Ryan Bowie (12.8) and Kaj-Bjorn Sherman (11.3) rounding out the group. 
 
NEXT UP: Following its matchup with the Roadrunners, FIU will return to action on Feb. 7 for a 5:30 p.m. matchup at home versus UTEP. The game will be broadcasted live on ASN. The matchup between FIU and UTEP will mark the fourth all-time meeting between the two teams as the Miners lead the all-time series, 3-0. The last time these two teams met was Feb. 15, 2014, as  FIU fell to UTEP, 84-71 in El Paso. Despite trailing by 18 points at halftime, the Panthers would manage to cut the Miner lead to seven in the second half.

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/.
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Players Mentioned

Tymell Murphy

#15 Tymell Murphy

Forward
6' 5"
Senior
Rakeem Buckles

#5 Rakeem Buckles

Forward
6' 7"
Redshirt Senior
Adrian Diaz

#20 Adrian Diaz

Forward
6' 11"
Redshirt Junior
Cody Mann

#4 Cody Mann

Guard
6' 0"
Junior
Dennis Mavin

#22 Dennis Mavin

Guard
6' 3"
Senior
Dominique  Williams

#12 Dominique Williams

Guard
6' 7"
Sophomore
Daviyon  Draper

#32 Daviyon Draper

Forward
6' 7"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Tymell Murphy

#15 Tymell Murphy

6' 5"
Senior
Forward
Rakeem Buckles

#5 Rakeem Buckles

6' 7"
Redshirt Senior
Forward
Adrian Diaz

#20 Adrian Diaz

6' 11"
Redshirt Junior
Forward
Cody Mann

#4 Cody Mann

6' 0"
Junior
Guard
Dennis Mavin

#22 Dennis Mavin

6' 3"
Senior
Guard
Dominique  Williams

#12 Dominique Williams

6' 7"
Sophomore
Guard
Daviyon  Draper

#32 Daviyon Draper

6' 7"
Junior
Forward