FIU MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES
AT JERSEY MIKE'S CLASSIC
Thursday, Nov. 18 – Sunday, Nov. 21
 
SETTING THE STAGE:  The Panthers (1-1) will head to St. Petersburg, Fla., to take part in the 2021 Jersey's Mike's Classic at the McArthur Center in St. Petersburg Florida on the campus of Eckerd College with three games scheduled against Ball State (Nov. 18), Green Bay (Nov. 19) and UNC Greensboro (Nov. 21).
 
FIU will open action on Thursday, Nov. 18 with an 8 p.m. ET tip against Ball State, which will be televised to a national audience on CBS Sports Network.  The Cardinals enter the event sporting a 1-1 overall record – with an 82-71 loss at Georgia Southern and a 73-69 victory over Omaha.
 
The Panthers will then face Green Bay on Friday, Nov. 19 in a contest that will also begin at 8 p.m. ET and will air on Pluto TV.  The Phoenix enter the week looking for their first win of the 2021-22 campaign following losses to Indiana State (81-77) and Wisconsin (72-34) in their initial two contests.
 
The final game of the weekend for the Panthers will see them match up against UNC Greensboro.  The Spartans are a perfect 2-0 on the season entering the week's action with victories over Northern Kentucky (70-69) and Coppin State (55-48).  The FIU-UNC Greensboro clash will also air on Pluto TV.
 
TV TALENT:  Each of FIU's games at the Jersey Mike's Classic will be televised nationally on either CBS Sports Network or Pluto TV.  The games will be called by Dave Ryan and Steve Wolf.
 
SERIES HISTORY:  The Panthers have faced Ball State twice previously, with the most recent meeting coming during the 1989-90 season.  FIU is 0-2 in those previous contests.
 
The Blue and Gold have met Green Bay once previously during the 2018-19 season.  FIU has never faced UNC Greensboro in the program's history.

BALL STATE (0-2)
12/21/88 L 66-89 H
1/13/90 L 50-105 A

GREEN BAY (0-1)
3/26/19 L 68-98 A

UNC GREENSBORO (0-0)
First Meeting

WHAT'S BACK:  FIU returns a total of five players from last season's squad, including senior Eric Lovett, who averaged 10.5 points while connecting on a team-best 51 three-point field goals.
The Panthers also feature 10 new faces on the 2021-22 roster entering opening night at Georgia, including five true freshmen.

LAST TIME OUT:  The FIU men's basketball team jumped out to an early 15-0 lead and never looked back as it posted a decisive 111-48 victory over Trinity College in its home opener on Nov. 12.
The Tigers were simply no match for the Panthers as the lead grew to 48-9 at the 5:15 mark of the opening half thanks to a 27-3 spurt.

FIU displayed a diversified offense that featured 11 players scoring in the opening 20 minutes as well as dishing out 17 assists on its first 24 field goals.

The Panthers finished the game shooting 61.5 percent from the field, while connecting on 40-of-65 shot attempts.  FIU banged home 15-of-32 attempts from beyond-the-arc for a 46.9 percent success rate.

A total of four FIU players posted double-figure scoring efforts, paced by sophomore Daniel Parrish, who tabbed a team-high 15.  Junior Tevin Brewer notched 14, while Clevon Brown and Aquan Smart each added 11.

Defensively, the Panthers held Trinity without a field goal for the opening 5:16 of regulation and forced 18 turnovers which they turned into 18 points.

BIG WIN IN HOME OPENER: The 63-point margin of victory vs. Trinity College on Nov. 12 marked the largest for FIU since a 70-point win (117-47) over Johnson & Wales on Nov. 9, 2018. 

The 111 points scored were the most for the Panthers since notching 111 vs. Carver College last season.

The Panthers have posted wins in each of their last nine home openers – dating back to a 69-60 loss vs. Stephen F. Austin on Sept. 17, 2011.

CLOSE CALL AT GEORGIA:  FIU led as late as the 10:04 mark of the second half before an 8-0 run by Georgia down the stretch handed them a 58-51 setback in the season opener for both teams on Nov. 9 in Athens.

The Panthers led by as many as seven points in a game that featured eight lead changes and three ties.

Junior Tevin Brewer paced FIU with a team-best 14 points.  Freshman Denver Jones also logged 13.

FIU was hot from the three-point stripe in the early going - connecting on 7-of-16 from deep in the opening 20 minutes before finishing the contest 9-of-27 overall.

Defensively, the Panthers limited the Bulldogs to just a 35.1 clip from the field and forced a total of 15 turnovers – 11 in the first half.

The Panthers got off to a hot start as they raced out to an 11-4 advantage in the early moments of the initial half as Brewer, Isaiah Banks and Eric Lovett all connected on a three-pointer in the opening five minutes of regulation.

FIU trailed for only a span of 2:16 in the first half before responding with a 12-4 spurt to close the period which was highlighted by a three-pointer that just beat the final buzzer of the first half by Denver Jones - sending the Panthers into the locker room with a 27-22 edge.

HOT SHOOTING EARLY:  The Panthers have enjoyed some solid shooting from the field as well as from beyond-the-arc over their initial two games of 2021-22.
FIU has posted a solid .407 (24-of-59) clip from three-point range over the squad's opening two contests. 

The Panthers drilled nine treys at Georgia in the season opener on Nov. 9 before dropping 15 against Trinity College on Nov. 12.

Junior Tevin Brewer has paced the long-shooting success by making 54.5 percent of his attempts (6-of-11).  He also is tied for the team-lead with nine assists.

Overall, the Panthers are shooting .484 (60-124) from the field over the first two games of 2021-22.

SHARING THE BALL:  Over the first two games of 2021-22, more than half of the Panthers' field goals have come with an assist this season – entering Thursday's clash with Ball State.

Of FIU's 60 field goals this season, 36 have some with a helper – a rate of 60 percent.

UP NEXT:  Following this week's trip to the Jersey Mike's Classic, the Panthers will open a four-game homestand beginning with a matinee on Wednesday, Nov. 24 vs. North Dakota in an 11 a.m. tip at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center on the FIU campus.

FIU HEAD COACH JEREMY BALLARD:  FIU head coach Jeremy Ballard is entering his fourth season at the helm of the Panthers.

During his first year on the sidelines at FIU, Ballard guided the Panthers to a 20-14 record and a 10-8 mark in Conference USA (C-USA) play. The team's 20 wins marked just the third time in school history that FIU logged 20-or-more victories and were tied for the second most in a single season, while the 10 C-USA wins was the most since joining the conference.

In addition, the Panthers advanced to only their second postseason tournament in program history taking part in the Collegeinsider.com Tournament (CIT) and advancing to the second round. During the first round of the CIT, the Blue and Gold won their first-ever postseason tournament game with an 87-81 victory at Texas State.

Ballard was named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award, given to America's top first year head coach in Division I, and the Ben Jobe Award, presented to the top minority coach in Division I.

During his second season at FIU, Ballard's squad finished with a 9-9 league record, earning the fifth seed for the program's highest ever seeding for the C-USA Tournament. During the conference tournament, the Panthers Took down Rice 85-76 for the programs second ever win during the conference tournament.

The FIU squad led the nation in blocked shots (210) and swats per contest (6.6) during the 2019-20 campaign. The team also ranked 11th in three-point defense (28.8) and total steals (280). The Panthers 8.8 steals per game ranked 13th nationally.

Ballard arrived at FIU after serving as associate head coach at VCU in 2017-18. He has spent 14 seasons as an assistant coach at the Division I level with coaching stints at Pitt, Illinois State, VCU, Tulsa and his alma mater Colgate.