GAME 24: FIU vs. RICE
Thursday, February 9, 2017 | 7 p.m.
Lime Court at FIU Arena | Miami, Fla.
 
FIU PANTHERS
Record: 5-18, 1-9 C-USA
Last Game: L, 95-80 at Charlotte, February 4, 2017
Head Coach: Anthony Evans
Alma Mater: St. Thomas Aquinas, 1994 
Career Record: 148-164/10th season
Record at FIU: 49-70/Fourth season
Top Players: Donte McGill (19.4 ppg, 45.5% FG), Michael Kessens (13.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg)       
 
RICE OWLS
Record: 15-8, 5-5 C-USA
Last Game: W, 95-80 North Texas, February 4, 2017
Head Coach: Mike Rhoades
Alma Mater: Lebanon Valley, 1995
Career Record: 236-123/13th season
Record at school: 39-48/Third season
Top Players: Egor Koulechov (18.8 ppg, 8.7 rpg), Marcus Evans (18.6 ppg, 4.4 apg)
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
TV/Video: PantherVision (CUSA-TV)
Pete Pelegrin (Play-by-Play)
Radio/Audio: None
Live Stats: FIUSports.com
Series: FIU leads, 2-1
Twitter: @FIUHoops
Tickets: For ticket information, contact the FIU athletic ticket office at 305-FIU-GAME (348-4263). Single game tickets start at just $10.
 
QUICK HITS
- The FIU men's basketball team returns to Lime Court at FIU Arena for two-straight games, beginning with Rice on Feb. 9 ... Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ... Fans who can't make it out to the game can keep up with all the action on PantherVision (CUSA-TV) with Pete Pelegrin calling the action ... The Panthers will close out their short homestand on Saturday, Feb. 11 against North Texas at 7 p.m.
 
- FIU is coming off a 95-80 loss at Charlotte on Feb. 4 ... Donte McGill led the way for the Panthers with 27 points while Elmo Stephen and Eric Nottage added 16 and 14 points, respectively ... Michael Kessens grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the loss.
 
- McGill leads the team in scoring through 23 games, averaging 19.4 points-per-contest ... Kessens is averaging 13.5 points-per-game, good enough for second on the team, and a team-high 9.5 rebounds-per-outing ... His rebounding average is tops in Conference USA ... Eric Nottage is netting 11.3 points-per-game.
 
- Anthony Evans is in his fourth season as head coach of the Panthers, and his 10th season overall ... FIU's game against Georgia Southern on Dec. 15 was Evans' 300th of his head coaching career.
 
UP NEXT FOR FIU
- Following Thursday's game with Rice, FIU will close out its short homestand against North Texas on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m., before heading back out on the road for two-straight at Southern Miss on Feb. 16 (8 p.m. ET) and Louisiana Tech on Feb. 18 (7 p.m. ET).
 
SCOUTING RICE
- Rice comes into its game with the Panthers with a 15-8 overall record and a 5-5 ledger in Conference USA ... The Owls have won their last two games - against Charlotte (84-67) on Jan. 28 and at North Texas (95-80) on Feb. 4 - and four of their last six.
 
- Egor Koulechov and Marcus Evans are each averaging 18.6 points-per-game on the year, while Koulechov is also pulling down a team-high 8.7 rebounds-per-contest ... Marcus Jackson rounds out Rice's double-figure scorers netting 13.0 points-per-game on the year.
 
THE SERIES AGAINST THE OWLS
- Thursday's game marks just the fourth meeting between FIU and Rice all-time, with the Panthers holding a 2-1 series lead.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST RICE
- The Panthers dropped an 86-70 loss at Rice on Feb. 20, 2016 in Houston last season, a game that saw the Owls lead wire-to-wire.
 
- Daviyon Draper poured in a career-high 26 points, and Adrian Diaz and Donte McGill added 12 points apiece in the loss ... Diaz's first basket of the game lifted the senior to the 1,000 career-point plateau (at both Kansas State and FIU) ... He also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the year.
 
- FIU shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) from the field, including 50.0 percent (8-of-16) from behind the three-point arc ... Rice, however, hit 52.4 percent (33-of-63) from the field.
 
- The Owls took advantage of 13 FIU turnovers, scoring 17 points off the miscues.
 
- Rice also led in the specialty stats: points in the paint (42-26), second chance points (20-10) fast break points (8-0) and bench points (14-8).
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE PANTHERS
- FIU is coming off a 95-80 loss at Charlotte on Feb. 4 ... Donte McGill led the way for the Panthers with 27 points while Elmo Stephen and Eric Nottage added 16 and 14 points, respectively ... Michael Kessens grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the loss.
 
- FIU forced Charlotte into 12 turnovers on the night which led to a 20-6 points off turnover advantage for the Blue and Gold ... The Panthers shot 49.2 percent (31-of-63) from the field, yet made only four of its 15 shots from behind the three-point arc for 26.7 percent