Game Details
FIU 108, Florida Memorial 67
FIU (9-3), Florida Memorial (3-12)
Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018 | 7 p.m.
Miami, Florida | Ocean Bank Convocation Center
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The Basics
- The FIU men's basketball team gave themselves a present going into Christmas break, coming at the expense of Florida Memorial University. The Panthers dominated their opponents from Miami Gardens, with a 108-67 win at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center, Thursday night in back of a career-high 22 points from
Willy Nunez, Jr. (Orlando, Florida). FIU improved to 9-3 on the year while Florida Memorial dropped to 3-12.
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- The Panthers jumped out to a commanding lead early on in the first half, taking a 46-23 lead into the locker room at the break, in back of 11 points from Nunez, Jr. FIU came out in the second half and didn't let up pushing its lead to as many as 44 points, 105-62, on a three-pointer by
Devon Andrews (Lorain, Ohio) with 2:50 left in the contest. Â
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- FIU shot 50.7 percent (37-for-73) from the field on the night, including 61.5 percent (24-for-39) in the second half.
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- Nunez, Jr. led six players in double figures, in the scoring column, with his career-high 22 points.
Brian Beard, Jr. (Rancho Cucamonga, California), netted 17 points, while
Trejon Jacob (Raleigh, North Carolina),
Isaiah Banks (Conyers, Georgia) and
Marcus Burwell (Richmond, Virginia) all added 10 points in the win.
Osasumwen Osaghae (Miami, Florida) grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
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Notable
- Tonight's starters for FIU were: G
Trejon Jacob (Raleigh, North Carolina); G Brian Beard, Jr. (Rancho Cucamonga, California); F
Devon Andrews (Lorain, Ohio); F,
Willy Nunez, Jr. (Orlando, Florida); and C
Elhadji Dieng (Mbour, Senegal) … FIU is 3-2 with this lineup on the year.
- All 13 eligible players on FIU's roster saw action in against Florida Memorial, and as early as the first half.
- Tonight was the Panthers' sixth 100-point game of the season, tying them for the second most 100-point games in a single season in school history, joining the 1982-83 team … The most 100-point games in a season, for FIU, came during the 1997-98 campaign with seven.
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Brian Beard, Jr.'s 17 points marks his 39
th career double figure scoring game.
- Beard. Jr.'s three steals on the night gives him 131 for his career which is sixth all-time in school history … In addition, his six assists gives him 257 for his career, surpassing Patrick McDonald (1982-86) for third all-time in program history.
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Trejon Jacob's 10 points marks his seventh double-figure scoring performance of the season and the 32
nd of his FIU career.
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Willy Nunez, Jr.'s 22 points marks his 13
th double-figure scoring performance in 18 career games for the Panthers.
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Phillip Smith (Potomac, Maryland) saw his first action in an FIU uniform, tonight against Florida Memorial after missing the first 11 games with a stress fracture in his foot.Â
Up Next
Following the Christmas break, the Panthers will start a three-game road stretch at Ohio on Dec. 30, at 2 p.m., before starting C-USA play at Middle Tennessee (Jan. 3, 7:30 p.m.) and at UAB (Jan. 5, 8 p.m.). FIU returns home on Thursday, Jan. 10, when it faces Charlotte in the first game of a two-game C-USA weekend homestand, along with Old Dominion on Jan. 12. Both games are at 7 p.m.
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