MIAMI (December 31, 2016) – The FIU men's basketball team closed out the calendar year with its first Conference USA game of the 2016-17 campaign as Marshall visited Lime Court at FIU Arena on Saturday afternoon for a New Year's Eve matinee. Fortunately for the Panthers they will get to turn the page on 2016 as the Thundering Herd handed FIU a 94-70 loss in the league opener for both schools.
The setback drops FIU to 4-10 on the year and 0-1 in C-USA play, while Marshall improves to 8-6 and 1-0 in league action. The loss also snaps a four-game winning streak in conference openers for the Blue and Gold dating back to the 2012-13 season.
Donte McGill and
Elmo Stephen each scored 16 points apiece and
Michael Kessens added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds in the loss.
Kimar Williams also chipped in with nine points.
The Panthers fell behind quickly to start the game trailing 12-0 just three minutes into the contest. FIU eventually battled back scoring 15 of the next 22 points, including a 10-0 run of its own, to cut the lead to two, 19-17, with 10:37 left in the half.
Eric Nottage led the charge during the 10-point stretch with four points on back-to-back baskets. That would be as close as FIU could get.
The Panthers could not overcome Marshall's 55.2 percent (16-of-29) shooting performance from the field in the first stanza, including a 45.5 percent (5-of-11) clip from behind the three-point arc, as the Thundering Herd took a 43-27 lead into the locker room at the break.
Marshall did not let up in the second half outscoring FIU 51-43, the most points put up on the Panthers in a half this season and extending its lead to as many as 29, 78-49, with 7:04 left in the game.
Stephen scored all of his 16 points in the second half while McGill netted 12 of his 16 points in the final 20 minutes of play, but that was not enough to get the Panthers back into the contest.
On the afternoon, FIU shot 41.7 percent (25-of-56) from the field while Marshall hit for an impressive 57.6 percent (34-of-59) from the floor. The Thundering Herd controlled the paint outscoring the Panthers 43-32 in the lane and scored 27 points off FIU's 17 turnovers.
FIU returns to the hardwood on Jan. 2, when it faces WKU at 7 p.m. After WKU, the Panthers head on the road for the first time during Conference USA play for three-straight, beginning on Jan. 7 at Florida Atlantic (2 p.m.) before heading to the Lone Star State for the only time this year to face UTEP on Jan. 12 (9 p.m. ET) and UTSA on Jan. 14 (4 p.m.).
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/.
