MIAMI (Jan. 3, 2016) – Adrian Diaz scored a game-high 23 points, including 20 in the second half, and
Donte McGill added 22 points, to lead FIU to an impressive 76-59 win over Florida Atlantic in the Conference USA opener for both schools on Sunday afternoon. The win – the Panthers' third-straight – evens FIU's record to 7-7 on the year and 1-0 in C-USA play. In addition, the scoring margin – 17 points – is the largest margin of victory for FIU in a Conference USA game since defeating Tulane, 73-47, on March 2, 2014.
Diaz finished the game shooting 6-of-8 from the field and 11-of-17 from the free-throw line. His 11 made free-throws marked a career-high. In addition, Diaz blocked three shots, had two steals and two assists in just under 40 minutes of action.
The Owls (2-12, 0-1 C-USA) led for the majority of the first half until
Daviyon Draper took a pass from
Ray Rodriguez and scored on a driving layup to put the Panthers up for good, 27-26, with 1:06 left in the half. FIU would take a 30-25 lead into the locker room at the break.
In the second half Diaz took control, scoring the first 12 points, and 18 of the Panthers' first 20 points of the second stanza. Diaz' play opened the game up and gave FIU an 11-point lead, 50-39, with 11:16 left in the contest.
Florida Atlantic would cut the lead to six points, 55-49, with 8:25 left, but that would be as close as the Owls would get. FIU out-scored FAU, 21-10, the rest of the way en route to the win.
Joining Diaz and McGill in double figures was Draper with 15 points to go along with a career-high 15 rebounds in 38 minutes.
Rodriguez and
Elmo Stephen added eight and six points, respectively, off the bench in the win.
On the day, FIU shot 50 percent (26-of-52) from the field, including 56 percent (14-of-25) in the second half. The Panthers dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Owls, 46-25, including 13-7 on the offensive glass leading to 18 second-chance points.
FIU will now head out for its first conference road trip of the season, facing WKU on Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. (ET), and Marshall on Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.
The Panthers will return home to Lime Court at FIU Arena on Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. to take on Louisiana Tech, and then Southern Miss on Jan. 16 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/.
