MIAMI (January 2, 2017) – The FIU men's basketball team was looking for a fresh start, with the beginning of the New Year, and hoping to pick up a big Conference USA win and gain confidence and momentum heading into three-straight road games beginning at FAU on Saturday (2 p.m., ASN). Unfortunately for the Panthers, they ran into a WKU team that came into tonight's game on Lime Court at FIU Arena with a three-game winning streak and winners of four of its last six. The Hilltoppers extended that winning streak to four games, handing FIU a hard-fought come-from-behind 69-66 loss despite a game-high 26 points from Donte McGill and 17 points from Michael Kessens.  
 
FIU drops to 4-11 on the year and 0-2 in C-USA, while the Hilltoppers improve to 8-7 and 2-0 in league play.

Early on, it was clear that the game would be close throughout. Neither team led by more than six points during the first 20 minutes as WKU took a two-point 32-30 lead into the locker room at the break on 50 percent (13-of-26) shooting from the field.

In the second half, the Panthers held their biggest lead of the game, 54-45, with 11:02 left in the contest after McGill hit a jumper to cap a 10-4 run. FIU, however, went cold for the final nine minutes, hitting just two of its last 12 shots and one of its last 11 in the final six minutes of play.

After the Panthers' nine-point advantage, the Hilltoppers closed on a 24-12 run to put the game out of reach.

FIU did have three opportunities to take the lead in the final 45 seconds but a trio of three-point attempts – one by McGill and two by Eric Nottage – were unsuccessful.

The Panthers shot 44.4 percent (24-of-54) from the field on the night and had another successful performance from the free throw line hitting 82.4 percent (14-of-17) of their shots from the charity stripe.

FIU did hold a slight advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Hilltoppers 30-29, including an 11-7 edge on the offensive boards, which led to the Panthers outscoring WKU 18-8 in second-chance points. FIU also outscored the Hilltoppers in the paint, 26-18.

In addition to McGill and Kessens' offensive performances, Elmo Stephen added eight points on the night in the loss.

The Panthers now head on the road for the first time during Conference USA play for three-straight, beginning with the Owls on Jan. 7 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. ET).

FIU doesn't return home until Jan. 14 when it faces defending Conference USA Tournament champion Middle Tennessee (7 p.m.) and UAB on Jan. 16 (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/.