SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Jan. 21 2016) – The FIU men's basketball team tipped off its two-game Texas road trip in impressive fashion, handing UTSA a 72-56 loss to get a big Conference USA road win on Thursday night at the UTSA Convocation Center. The win, the Panthers' sixth in its last eight games, improves the Panthers to 10-9 on the year and 4-2 in C-USA.
Donte McGill scored a game-high 23 points,
Adrian Diaz added 12 points, and
Daviyon Draper chipped in with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds in the win. In addition, all 10 players on the Panthers' roster found the scoring column.
FIU dominated play from the beginning leading from the opening tip.
The Panthers had to play all but five minutes of the first half without the services of their second leading scorer and leading rebounder, Diaz, who found himself on the bench with three fouls, including two in the first 4:06.
FIU led by as many as 13 points, twice in the first stanza, the second of which came on an
Eric Nottage three-point shot with 2:16 left before the intermission.
The Roadrunners, however, would not lie down as they closed the half on an 8-0 run to trail at the intermission, 30-25.
McGill and Draper picked up the majority of the scoring load, in the first 20 minutes, netting eight and seven points, respectively.
UTSA (4-15, 2-4 C-USA) would get the Panthers' lead down to four points, 32-28, with 18:31 left in the game on the first of two free throws by Christian Wilson. That, however, would be as close as the Roadrunners would the rest of the way.
FIU pushed its lead to as many as 17 points numerous times the in the final half, never allowing UTSA to cut the lead to single digits during the final 13:31.
The Panthers shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) on the night, while also outrebounding the Roadrunners, 44-32, including 11-7 on the offensive glass, leading to 14 second chance points.
FIU heads back on the road, and head west to El Paso, to face UTEP on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 9:05 p.m. (ET).
The Panthers return to Lime Court at FIU Arena, for two straight, on Thursday, Jan. 28, when it plays host to Charlotte. FIU will then welcome Old Dominion to Miami on Saturday, Jan. 30. Both games will tipoff at 7 p.m.
For men's basketball ticket information, contact the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or log onto www.FIUSports.com.
Fans are encouraged to follow @FIUHoops 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 at the FIU Football Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
