MIAMI (Feb. 13, 2016) – The FIU men's basketball team snapped its five-game losing streak on Saturday with a 79-65 win over UTSA on Lime Court at FIU Arena. The win improves the Panthers to 12-14 on the season and 6-7 in Conference USA.
Donte McGill paced the way for FIU with 20 points, while
Daviyon Draper and
Adrian Diaz added 18 and 17 points, respectively. Diaz also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Panthers.
FIU shot an impressive 57.7 percent (30-of-52) from the field on the night, and a 60 percent clip (15-of-25) from the floor in the second half. In addition, the Panthers used a balanced offensive attack as eight of the nine players that saw the court scored, while six players scored six or more points.
But it was FIU's defense that held the Roadrunners to just 36.7 percent shooting (18-of-49) on the night, and 16.7 percent (3-of-18) from behind the three-point arc, including 10 percent (1-of-10) in the second half.
The Panthers would lead by as many as nine points, twice in the first half, the first coming on a Draper three-point shot with 6:44 left to make the score 26-19. Diaz then gave them the same advantage, 28-19, on a layup with 5:18 left in the half.
UTSA, however would close the half on a 13-4 run to knot the game at 32-all at the intermission.
After the Roadrunners led briefly to start the second half, FIU would take the lead for good, 39-36, on Draper's second, and final, trey of the evening with 16:39 left.
The Panthers eventually pushed the lead to double-digits, and then to a game-high 17 points, 70-53, when Diaz connected on two free throws with 3:25 left on the clock.
The Roadrunners would pose no threat the remainder of the game.
Cameron Smith chipped in with eight points on the night, while
Jason Boswell and
Elmo Stephen added six points apiece.
FIU will hit the road again and travel back to the Lone Star state, for the second time this season, where it will face North Texas on Thursday, Feb. 18 (8 p.m. ET) and Rice on Feb. 20 (2 p.m. ET). The Panthers' second swing trip of the season to Texas marks the first two games of three-straight on the road. FIU will travel to Florida Atlantic during that stretch to face the Owls on Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. (ASN).
The Panthers will return home on Thursday, March 3 at 7 p.m. when they meet UAB on Lime Court at FIU Arena, before welcoming Middle Tennessee to Miami on Saturday, March 5 at 6 p.m. to close out the regular season. 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/.
