COLUMBIA, South Carolina (December 4, 2016) – The FIU men's basketball team met its first Top 25 opponent in nearly two years on Sunday when it took the hardwood to face No. 20/23 South Carolina; and the Gamecocks showed just why they find themselves among the nation's elite as they handed the Panthers a 70-54 loss at Colonial Life Arena.
FIU drops to 3-6 on the year while South Carolina improves to 8-0.
South Carolina led from the start and shot 41 percent (25-of-61) from the field on the afternoon, while the Panthers hit 41.3 percent (19-of-46) from the floor.
FIU was led by
Eric Nottage with 20 points, all coming in the second half, on 7-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-4 from both behind the three-point arc and the free throw line.
Michael Kessens recorded his third-straight double-double, and his fifth in an FIU uniform with a 12-point, 10-rebound effort. It was Kessens' 18th career double-double.
Anthony Boswell added 10 points in the loss.
South Carolina jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead before
Kimar Williams got the Panthers on the board with a driving layup with 17 minutes left in the half.
FIU cut the Gamecocks lead to four, twice. The first came on a three-point shot by Boswell with 16:33 left in the first stanza, then again on a jumper by Kessens to make the score 11-7 with 14:18 left before the intermission.
South Carolina put together a 7-0 run to push the lead to, at that time, a game-high 12 points, 26-14, with 5:09 left in the first on a three-point shot by Duane Notice.
The Gamecocks eventually took a 36-22 lead into the locker room at the break in back of 10 first half points from Boswell and six from Williams.
South Carolina did not look back the rest of the way, extending its lead to a game-high 23 points, 65-42, with 3:21 left in the game.
Then Panthers tried to keep the game close behind Nottage, but the Gamecocks did not let FIU back into the contest, despite South Carolina only shooting 40 percent (12-of-30) from the field in the second half.
The rebounding battle went in favor of FIU with the Panthers holding a slight 35-34 advantage.
The Panthers were without the services of
Donte McGill who was sidelined Sunday with a right quad injury.
FIU last met a team ranked in the Top 25 whet it visited No. 5 Louisville on Dec. 5, 2014 with the Cardinals handing the Panthers an 82-57 loss.
After a break next week for finals, the Panthers close out their three-game road stretch at Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 11 at 8:15 p.m.FIU will not return home until it begins a season-long, five-game stretch at FIU Arena, starting on Dec. 15 against Georgia Southern at 7 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/.
