BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The FIU men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought matchup on the road at Western Kentucky on Saturday evening, falling 70-59 in a contest that featured nine lead changes inside E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky. The Hilltoppers (11-6, 3-3 C-USA) rallied off an 18-4 run through the latter portion of the second half to hold a double-figure cushion en route to dropping FIU to 8-9 overall and 2-4 in the Conference USA.
 
C-USA Freshman of the Week Arturo Dean led three Panthers in double figures with 18 points, a career-highs of nine rebounds and five steals, and three assists in 36 minutes.
 
Sophomore Mohamed Sanogo recorded 10 points, three rebounds and two blocks, while graduate forward Nick Guadarrama tallied 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals to round out FIU's scorers in double figures.
 
Western Kentucky finished the contest 46.9 percent from the floor, highlighted by 9-of-20 shooting from beyond the arc (45.0%), and 78.9 percent from the stripe.
 
The Hilltoppers' bench outnumbered FIU's 21-4, while WKU also held the edge on the glass for the night, 39-33.
 
Sophomore guard Denver Jones finished with nine points, two rebounds and two assists, while classmate Petar Krivokapic added eight points, including a season-best 5-for-5 at the line, and four rebounds.
 
Saturday's first half featured five lead changes and tied scores to eventually see the Hilltoppers lead by six at the break, 35-29.
 
WKU extended an eight-point cushion by the under-16 media timeout, 42-34, prior to FIU rattling a momentum-shifting 12-0 run that led to FIU reclaiming its first lead since the 8:59 mark of the first half.
 
Arturo Dean nailed a jumper out of the break prior to Nick Guadarrama burying a transition three in front of FIU's bench to corral a one-possession game at 42-39. Dean then collected a steal en route to converting an and-one fast break layup at the line to knot the margin, 42-42. Dean followed up with another layup the next trip down to reclaim the lead before diming Mohamed Sanogo for a big slam to force a Western Kentucky timeout at 46-42 by the 10:20 mark.
 
Both teams exchanged buckets, seeing the Panthers hold the edge after a Guadarrama floater (50-49), though, Western Kentucky gained a massive second win to rattle off an 18-4 run – which included three 3-pointers – to snatch control of the game with 1:45 to play, 67-54.
 
FIU cut the margin to 10 with 51 seconds remaining after a Seth Pinkney alley-oop and 3-pointer from Jones, however, the Panthers would ultimately run out of gas to see the Hilltoppers walk away with the victory at the horn.
 
UP NEXT
FIU returns to Ocean Bank Convocation Center for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day matchup against North Texas on Monday, Jan. 16. Tip-off is slated for a 7 p.m. start to be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
TICKETS
For more information on FIU tickets to FIU basketball home games, including student ticketing, call 305-FIU-GAME or visit HERE.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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