Game Details
FIU 79, Charlotte 59
FIU (9-11, 3-4 C-USA), Charlotte (5-13, 1-6 C-USA)
Miami, Florida | Ocean Bank Convocation Center
 
The Basics
- Eric Lockett (Warner Robins, Georgia) poured in a game-and-career-high 30 points as the FIU men's basketball team snapped its two-game losing streak on Saturday night with a much-needed 79-59 win over Charlotte at the Ocean Back Convocation Center. The victory improves the Panthers to 9-11 on the year and 3-4 in Conference USA. The 49ers drop to 5-13 overall and 1-6 in league play following their fifth-straight loss. The win was FIU's most lopsided Conference USA victory since defeating Tulane by 26, 73-47, on March 2, 2014.  
 
- The Panthers used a pair of 10-0 runs to take a game that was close early on and break it open midway through the first half. FIU used 43.8 percent shooting from the field – including 50 percent from behind the three-point arc – and a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe, to push its lead to as many as 21 points in the first stanza. The Panthers eventually took a 41-24 lead into the locker room at the intermission.   
 
- FIU established its defensive intensity early on in the first 20 minutes, forcing the 49ers into 10 first-half turnovers, leading to a 17-3 points-off-turnover advantage.
 
- Charlotte cut the lead to as few as eight points with just over 15 minutes left in the second half, but the Panthers used an 18-8 run to get the lead back to 18 points, 64-46, on a three-point play by Brian Beard, Jr. (Rancho Cucamonga, California) with 11:14 left. The 49ers didn't threaten the rest of the game.
 
- FIU shot 47.3 percent from the field on the night, including 52.2 percent in the second half en route to the win, and hit 44.4 percent from behind the three-point arc. In addition, the Panthers shot a season-high 76 percent from the free-throw line, their highest percentage of the season.      
 
- In addition to Lockett's career-high, the Panthers put three other players in double figures. Trejon Jacob (Raleigh, North Carolina) and Michael Douglas (Sachse, Texas) each scored 19 points, while Beard, Jr. netted 15 points and fell one assist shy of tying his career-high with eight assists. Douglas grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
 
The Turning Point
FIU's multiple 10-0 runs in the first half opened the game up for Panthers in the first half. After trailing by two, 5-3, with 17:13 left in the first, FIU pushed out to a 13-5 advantage with 14:05 left in the half. Then, two minutes later, FIU used its second 10-0 stretch to take an eight-point lead and moved it to an 18-point advantage, 28-10, with 8:43 left.
 
Stat of the Game
FIU finished the game by forcing Charlotte into 16 turnovers on the night, while only committing seven. The Panthers, who pride themselves on creating offense off their defense, enjoyed a convincing 23-5 points-off-turnover advantage in the win
 
Notable
- Tonight's starters for FIU were: G Trejon Jacob, G Brian Beard, Jr., G Eric Lockett, F Hassan Hussein (Lorton, Virginia), and C Elhadji Dieng (Mbour, Senegal) … The Panthers are 5-10 with this starting five.

- FIU improves to 3-2 in the all-time series against Charlotte … The win, the second in the past three games against the 49ers, is the first victory on the Panthers' home floor.

- Tonight's win over Charlotte is FIU's first home win since defeating Florida Atlantic, 58-57, in the Conference USA opener on Dec. 30.  

- FIU's seven turnovers against Charlotte marks the sixth game this season that the Panthers logged single-digit miscues.

- G Brian Beard, Jr.'s 15 points marks his 18^th double-figure scoring performance of the season, and the 18^th-straight.

- G Eric Lockett's career-high 30 points marks his 16^th double-figure scoring game of the season and the 20^th of his career … Lockett has netted double figures in 18 of his last 20 games, dating back to the end 2016-17 season.

- G Trejon Jacob netted double-figures for the 16^th time this season with his 16 points.

- F Mike Douglas's 16 marks his fifth double-figure scoring outing of the season – and the seventh of his career. 

Up Next
Following tonight's game, FIU will head back to the Lone Star State for the second time in the last three weeks to take on Rice on Jan. 25, at 8 p.m. ET and North Texas on Jan. 27, at 6 p.m. ... The Panthers return home on Feb. 1, to host Southern Miss, and on Feb. 3, to butt heads with Louisiana Tech ... Both games start at 7 p.m.
  
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