RUSTON, Louisiana (February 18, 2017) – The FIU men's basketball team looked to salvage its Conference USA swing trip through Mississippi and Louisiana, but in order to do that they had to beat one of the hottest teams in the league, Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs, however, made sure that they did not let the Panthers accomplish their goal, defeating FIU 77-61 on Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.

The Panthers drop to 6-21 on the year and 2-12 in C-USA, while LA Tech wins its 20th game of the season with just eight losses and improves to 12-3 in league play.

Donte McGill scored a team-high 20 points and Michael Kessens added 18 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, falling just short of his ninth double-double wearing the Blue and Gold and the 22nd of his collegiate career. 

The Panthers started the game leading by as many as seven points, 10-3, early in the first half when Kessens drained a jumper with 14:30 on the clock.

Louisiana Tech, however, broke the game open starting with the next possession, when Erik McCree scored two of his 11 first half points, and the Bulldogs proceeded to use a 16-4 run to gain the upper hand on FIU, 21-14 with 5:44 left in the first stanza. LA Tech then scored 15 of the next 21 points to take its biggest lead of the half, 36-20, with 1:13 left before the break.

The Bulldogs eventually took a 38-25 lead into the locker room at the break.

LA Tech never let the Panthers hit single digits the remainder of the game. FIU scored just 10 points through the first 10 minutes of the second stanza, shooting 23.1 percent (3-of-13) over that stretch, which allowed the Bulldogs to take their biggest lead of the game, 61-35, with 10:49 left on a jump shot by Omar Sherman.

On the night, the Panthers shot just 39.6 percent (21-of-53) from the field while LA Tech hit 42.2 percent (27-of-64) of its shots from the floor.

Known for their high-flying up tempo style of play, the Bulldogs took advantage of 15 FIU turnovers that led to 23 fast break points as opposed to just six Panthers points in transition off seven LA Tech miscues.

The more athletic and longer Bulldogs also controlled the paint, outscoring FIU 46-20 in the lane.

FIU returns to Lime Court at FIU Arena for its final homestand of the season, beginning on Feb. 23, when UTSA comes to Miami (7 p.m.) and then FIU closes out its 2016-17 home slate during Senior Night on Feb. 25 against UTEP (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/.