Game Details
FIU 73, North Texas 58
FIU (19-12, 10-8 C-USA), North Texas (20-11, 8-10 C-USA)
Saturday, March 9, 2019 | 7 p.m.  
Miami, Florida | Ocean Bank Convocation Center
 
The Basics
- The FIU men's basketball team jumped on top of North Texas early and never let up as the Panthers closed out the regular season with a 73-58 win over the Mean Green at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center on Saturday night. FIU improves to 19-12 on the year and ends Conference USA play with a 10-8 slate. North Texas drops to 20-11 overall and 8-10 in league play. The Panthers' 19 wins marks the third most wins in program history since moving to Division I to start the 1986-87 season.
 
- Brian Beard, Jr. (Rancho Cucamonga, California) led FIU in scoring with a game-high 24 points, while Devon Andrews (Lorain, Ohio) and Trejon Jacob (Raleigh, North Carolina) added 14 and 12 points, respectively. Osasumwen Osaghae (Miami, Florida) grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for his third-straight double-figure rebounding game.
 
- The Panthers took a double-digit lead midway through the first half and never let the Mean Green into single digits the rest of the night. The Blue & Gold extended their lead to as many as 22 points, 37-15, on a Jacob jumper with just over two minutes left in the half. FIU eventually took a 40-24 lead into the locker room at the break. The Panthers shot 53.6 percent (15-for-28) from the field in the first half, including 50.0 percent (5-for-10) from behind the three-point arc, while the Mean Green hit just eight of their 24 shots from the floor for a 23.5 percent clip.
 
- North Texas chipped away at the lead in the second half, getting FIU's advantage down to 10 points, 59-49, with 6:41 left but that would be as close as the Mean Green got the rest of the night.
 
- The Panthers forced North Texas into 21 turnovers on the night, leading to 24 points. FIU finished the game shooting 43.9 percent (25-for-57) from the field on the night.
 
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 4-2 with this lineup on the year.

- FIU's 21 turnovers forced, against North Texas, gives them 612 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 24 points marks his 54^th career double figure scoring game in an FIU uniform … In addition, it's Beard, Jr.'s 21^st career game netting 20 points-or-more.

- Beard, Jr.'s two steals against the Mean Green gives him 183 for his career … He is currently just 21 steals shy of equaling the all-time steals record in program history (209, Carlos Morban, 2001-03), and 22 from setting a new mark.

- In addition, Beard, Jr.'s three assists gives him 368 for his FIU career – in just 62 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 14 points marks his 24^th double-figure scoring game of his collegiate career.

- Trejon Jacob's 12 points is his 42^nd career double-figure scoring performance, and the 17^th of the season.

- Osaghae's 12 rebounds led to his 10^th double-figure rebounding game of his career and his third-straight.

- Through tonight's game with North Texas, and his three blocks, Osasumwen Osaghae has 117 career blocked shots, good enough for third all-time in school history … In addition, his 83 blocks on the season is also third on the school single season list.

- On Saturday, Michael Douglas (Sachse, Texas) tied Fab Fisher (1999-03) for third place on FIU's career games played list having played in his 116^th career game with the Panthers.  

Up Next
Up next for FIU, the Panthers will travel to the Conference USA Tournament in Frisco, Texas, which begins with the first round on March 13, followed by the quarterfinals on March 14, the semifinals on March 15, and the championship game on March 16. Check FIUSports.com for game times and opponents.

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