Game Details
FIU 83, Louisiana Tech 76
FIU (18-11, 9-7 C-USA), Louisiana Tech (18-12, 8-9 C-USA)
Sunday, March 3, 2019 | 12 p.m.  
Miami, Florida | Ocean Bank Convocation Center
 
The Basics
- The FIU men's basketball team placed five players in double figures, en route to its fourth-straight win, as the Panthers defeated Louisiana Tech 83-76 at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center Sunday afternoon. FIU improves to 18-11 on the year and 9-7 in Conference USA, while the Bulldogs drop to 18-12 and 8-9 in league play.  
 
- Devon Andrews (Lorain, Ohio) paced the way for the Panthers, pouring in a game-high 21 points, including 15 points in the second half. In addition, Brian Beard, Jr. (Rancho Cucamonga, California) became the seventh player in program history to reach the 1,000^th career-point plateau, doing so in just his 60^th career game. Beard, Jr. also had seven assists. Isaiah Banks (Conyers, Georgia) and Trejon Jacob (Raleigh, North Carolina) added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Osasumwen Osaghae (Miami, Florida) posted his fifth career double-double finishing with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
 
- FIU led by four points at the half, 38-34, only to have LA Tech come out in the second stanza and eventually take a seven-point advantage, 62-55, with just under 11 minutes left in the contest. The Panthers, however, like they have done all season long, came back using a 13-4 stretch to take a two-point edge, 68-66, with 7:20 left in the contest on an Andrews layup. During the run, Andrews would account for nine of his 15 second half points, and the Bulldogs never regained the lead.     
 
- The Panthers finished the contest hitting 46.7 percent (28-for-60) of their shots from the field, including 48.3 percent (14-for-29) in the second half. Louisiana Tech hit 39.4 percent (26-for-66) of its shots from the floor. In addition, FIU outrebounded the Bulldogs, 43-37, in the win.

Quotable
FIU Head Coach Jeremy Ballard on today's win ...
"Huge win. I told our guys, this is a quality team that we were able to sweep. They've won some big games this year. They are well coached. They are very solid on both sides of the ball, and it took a lot of toughness and a lot of grit to win this game. It took a ton of leadership. The leadership begins with our senior point guard (Brian Beard, Jr.). He's been awesome in practice and it carries over to the game. These guys up here (Brian Beard, Jr., Isaiah Banks and Devon Andrews), they've all been buying in to the preparation that it takes to win. They've all bought into what goes into winning away from the game. You can't just show up at noon today and win. These guys have been preparing to win since the FAU game last Saturday. I couldn't be prouder of them. It's a little unique. I'm glad for the guys to see this. LA Tech only turned the ball over 11 times. They do a really good job of taking care of the ball. We held them to under 40 percent shooting, and we out-rebounded them. It's great for our guys to see that we can win in a lot of ways. We don't have to just turn over someone 20-plus times to win a game. We can make them miss, and we can rebound to get stops."
 
FIU senior guard Brian Beard, Jr. on scoring his 1,000th career point ...
"It was a great accomplishment. Coming into the game I only needed one point. I wasn't pressed to get it. I knew I was going to score one point today, but it feels good to know that I've accomplished something here, and I'm proud of myself."
 
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 3-1 with this lineup on the year.

- FIU's win today improves the Panthers' record to 7-6 in the all-time series against Louisiana Tech.

- FIU improved its season record to 18-11 on the year with its win over the Bulldogs … The 18 wins is tied for the fourth most in school history, joining the 2012-13 team (18-14), and tied for the third most since beginning Division I play … The Panthers recorded 18 wins in 2012-13, 19 wins in 1984-85, 20 wins in 1992-93, and a school record 21 wins in 1997-98.
 
- FIU's 11 turnovers forced today, against LA Tech, gives them 582 turnovers forced on the season … With the 11 turnovers forced, the Panthers set a new school single-season record, surpassing the 1997-98 team that forced 580 miscues … 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.

- With his first field goal of the afternoon, a driving layup at the 5:45 mark of the first half, Brian Beard, Jr. became the seventh player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, and the first since Alex Galindo (2008-09).

- Beard, Jr.'s 13 points marks his 52^nd career double figure scoring game in an FIU uniform.

- Beard, Jr.'s one steal against the Bulldogs gives him 180 for his career … He is currently just 29 steals shy of equaling the all-time steals record in program history (209, Carlos Morban, 2001-03), and 30 from setting a new mark.

- In addition, Beard, Jr.'s seven assists gives him 359 for his FIU career – in just 60 career games … He sits second on the Panthers' all-time assist list behind Carlos Arroyo (459, 1997-01).  

- Devon Andrews 21 points marks his 22^nd double-figure scoring game of his collegiate career, and his eighth performance of 20 points or more … Andrews has scored better than 20 points in three of the last five games.

- Trejon Jacob's 11 points is his 40^th career double-figure scoring performance, and the 15^th of the season.

- Osasumwen Osaghae's 10 points marks his 11^th double-figure scoring performance of the year, and the 14^th of his career.

- Osaghae's 11 rebounds led to his eighth double-figure rebounding game of his career.

- Through today's game with LA Tech, Osasumwen Osaghae has 111 career blocked shots, good enough for third all-time in school history … In addition, his 77 blocks on the season is also third on the school single season list.

- Isaiah Banks' 12 points is his 10^th double-digit scoring game of his career.

- On Sunday, Michael Douglas (Sachse, Texas) tied Anthony Harris (1999-99) for fourth place on FIU's career games played list having played in his 114^th career game with the Panthers. 

Up Next
Following Sunday's game against Louisiana Tech, FIU will hit the road and head to Huntington, West Virginia, to face Marshall on March 6, at 7 p.m. ... That game will be carried live on ESPN+ ... The Panthers will return home for their regular season finale on Saturday, March 9, at 7 p.m.

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