Game Details
2019 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Tournament – First Round
North Texas 71, FIU 57
FIU (19-13), North Texas (21-11)
Wednesday, March 13, 2019 | 9:30 p.m. ET  
Frisco, Texas | Ford Center at the Star
 
The Basics
- The No. 7 seed FIU men's basketball team ran into a buzz saw on Wednesday night as 10^th-seeded North Texas handed a 71-57 loss to the Panthers in the first round of the 2019 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Basketball Tournament, at The Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas. The loss drops FIU to 19-13 overall while North Texas improves to 21-11 on the year and snaps the Mean Green's seven-game losing streak.
 
- Brian Beard, Jr. (Rancho Cucamonga, California) scored a team-high 13 points and dished out five assists, while Devon Andrews (Lorain, Ohio) and Osasumwen Osaghae (Miami, Florida) added 10 points apiece. Osaghae also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for his seventh-career double-double, and his third in the last four games, and had six blocked shots, equaling the third most blocks in a C-USA Tournament game.
 
- North Texas jumped out in the first half and took control of the game and never looked back. The Mean Green shot 48.4 percent (15-for-31) in the first stanza while the Panthers shot just 31 percent (9-for-29) en route to a 39-22 lead at the half. FIU looked to make a comeback in the second half by cutting the North Texas lead down to 11 points, 44-33, with just over 15 minutes left on a Trejon Jacob (Raleigh, North Carolina) layup. The Mean Green, however, used an 8-0 run to push the lead back to 19 points, with 12:53 left, and then eventually a game-high 21 points, 64-43, with just over six minutes remaining.
 
- North Texas dominated the Panthers on the boards, outrebounding FIU, 49-25, and 20-12 on the offensive glass, which led to a 21-10 second-chance points advantage.


 
Notable
- Today's starters for FIU were: G, Brian Beard, Jr. (Rancho Cucamonga, California); G, Antonio Daye, Jr. (Durham, North Carolina); F, Devon Andrews (Lorain, Ohio); F, Isaiah Banks (Conyers, Georgia) and C, Osasumwen Osaghae (Miami, Florida) … FIU is 4-3 with this lineup on the year.

- FIU's 19 turnovers forced, against North Texas, gives them 631 turnovers forced on the season building on its single-season record … It is just the fourth time in program history that the Panthers have recorded better than 550 turnovers forced in a season, joining the 1997-98 (580), 2012-13 (569) and 1996-97 (555) teams.

- Beard, Jr.'s 13 points marks his 55^th career double figure scoring game in an FIU uniform.

- Beard, Jr.'s one steal against the Mean Green gives him 184 for his career … He is currently just 20 steals shy of equaling the all-time steals record in program history (204, Carlos Morban, 2001-03), and 21 from setting a new mark.

- In addition, Beard, Jr.'s five assists gives him 373 for his FIU career – in just 63 career games … He sits second on the Panthers' all-time assist list behind Carlos Arroyo (459, 1997-01) … In addition, Beard, Jr. continues to build on his own single-season steals record … He currently has 94 steals on the year, which surpasses his previous single-season mark of 90 set last year.  

- Devon Andrews 10 points marks his 25^th double-figure scoring game of his collegiate career.

- Osaghae's 12 rebounds led to his 11^th double-figure rebounding game of his career and his fourth-straight.

- Through tonight's game with North Texas, and his six blocks, Osasumwen Osaghae has 123 career blocked shots, good enough for third all-time in school history … In addition, his 89 blocks on the season is also third on the school single season list.

- On Wednesday, Michael Douglas (Sachse, Texas) surpassed Fab Fisher (1999-03) for third place on FIU's career games played list having played in his 117^th career game with the Panthers.  

##########

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).