MIAMI (Jan. 9 2016) – The FIU men's basketball team (8-8, 2-1 C-USA) came into Saturday's game at Marshall as one of four unbeaten teams in Conference USA, while looking to improve to 3-0 in league play for the first time since the 2010-11 season. Marshall, however, had other plans as it handed FIU a 99-81 loss in front of 5,127 at the Cam Henderson Center.
The loss snapped the Panthers' four-game winning streak, it's longest since a six-game winning streak during the 2013-14 campaign.
Daviyon Draper scored a career-high 25 points, on 11-of-21 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. It marked Draper's second-straight 20-point game after tying his then-career-mark (21 points) on Thursday against Western Kentucky. Joining Draper in double figures were
Donte McGill with 20 points and
Adrian Diaz with 16.
Diaz and
Elmo Stephen each grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in the loss.
The Panthers shot 46.5 percent (33-of-71) from the field, had another solid showing from the charity stripe hitting 78.6 percent (11-of-14), and outrebounded the Thundering Herd, 38-33, including a 12-5 margin on the offensive boards leading to 15 second-chance points. FIU, however, had no answer for Marshall's 13 made three-point field goals and 53.4 percent (31-of-58) shooting from the field on the night, including 41.9 percent (13-of-31) from behind the arc.
Marshall took control of the game early in the first half, hitting on three-consecutive three-pointers. The Thundering Herd then used a 10-0 run to take a 21-6 lead on a three-point play by James Kelly with 13:34 left in the half.
After Marshall extended its first half lead to as many as 17 points, 34-17, with 6:28 left, the Panthers put together an 11-3 run to get back into the game. FIU cut the Thundering Herd lead to nine points, 37-28, on a Stephen three-pointer with 2:52 left.
FIU would eventually take that same margin into the locker room at the intermission, 43-34.
Marshall started the second half just like it did the beginning of the game – from long range. Jon Elmore hit three three-point shots on the Thundering Herd's first four possessions, giving Marshall a 54-38 lead with 18:22 left.
The Panthers would get the Marshall lead down to 10 points, twice in the second stanza. The first came at the 16:50 mark when Diaz connected on a driving layup to make the score 54-44. The second capping off a 15-6 run on a layup by
Ray Rodriguez with 1:58 remaining. That would be as close as FIU would get the rest of the way.
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/.
