MIAMI (Feb. 7, 2015) – Despite leading by one point with 1:23 remaining, the FIU men's basketball team (11-12, 4-6) fell to the UTEP Miners, 67-64, on Lime Court at FIU Arena on Saturday evening. With the loss, FIU drops to 0-4 all-time against UTEP.

Senior guard Dennis Mavin posted his eighth 20-point game this season, leading the Panthers with 23 points on the evening. Junior Daviyon Draper had one of his best games in an FIU uniform, scoring a career-high 21 points on a personal-best nine made field goals. Redshirt junior Adrian Diaz posted his second-straight double-double in the loss, scoring 12 points while recording 11 rebounds. Diaz also had four blocks in the game, which gives him 62 on the season as he broke FIU's single season blocks record. Diaz passed Russell Hicks, who had 60 blocks during the 2007-08 campaign.

UTEP jumped out to a commanding 15-4 lead to open the first five-plus minutes. The Miners stabilized the lead at 11 at the 12:40 mark to lead 21-10. The Panthers answered though, scoring the next five points, which included a layup by Draper and two good free-throws from Mavin, shrinking the lead to 21-15. UTEP drained two threes afterward to extend the lead to 12 and held a double-digit advantage for the majority of the remaining time in the first half. A layup by Draper with six seconds to go made it a nine-point UTEP lead at halftime, 34-25.

The Panthers came out strong in the second half and shrunk the Miner lead to just four points at the 12:51 when redshirt junior Ray Rodriguez hit a three from well beyond the arc to make it four-point game. After making a stop on defense, Mavin hit an acrobatic layup to make it just a two-point lead for UTEP, 43-41. The visitors scored 10 of the next 11 points though to make it a 52-42 contest. UTEP would maintain the 10-point lead, having a 57-47 advantage up to the 7:49 mark.

FIU scored the next six points on layups by Draper, Mavin and a put-back by Diaz to make it a 57-53 game with 6:05 to go. Following two Hunter free-throws, Draper drove the lane and found the basket to make it a four-point game again. Mavin shrunk the lead to just two points on a drive with 4:52 to go. Mavin kept it within one again on a fast-break layup at the four-minute mark to make it 60-59. The Panther momentum continued as Diaz tied it up at 61 points with 2:27 to go. After the UTEP free throw struggles continued, the Panthers got their first lead of the game on a Mavin make with 1:23 remaining. However, the Miners closed out the game scoring five of the final six points. Mavin's three-point tie attempt at the end fell short, resulting in a 67-64 outcome.

GAME NOTES: Adrian Diaz is the new school record holder for blocks in a single season, as he now has 62, passing Russell Hicks, who set the previous mark of 60 blocks during the 2007-08 season…Diaz has 34 blocks over the last eight games, which is an average of 4.3 blocks-per-contest…Diaz posted his fifth career double-double and his second in as many games…Diaz has now scored in double-digits in the last six contests…Dennis Mavin posted his 10^th career 20-point game…Mavin has scored 20 or more points four of his last five contests…Daviyon Draper posted his first career 20-point scoring effort, dropping a career-high 21 points on a career-best nine made field goals. 

FIU is back in action this upcoming Thursday as it travels to Southern Miss. The game can be viewed on FSN at 9 p.m. ET.

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/.