MIAMI, Fla. – The FIU men's basketball team led for 21:31 of Monday night's contest against North Texas and shot 47.5 percent from the field, though, the Mean Green would pull away over the final five minutes to come away with a 64-57 victory over the Panthers inside the Ocean Bank Convocation Center. The loss drops FIU to 8-10 and 2-5 in the Conference USA, as North Texas moves to 15-4 and 6-2 in league play.
 
Denver Jones led FIU with a game-high 19 points, three rebounds and an assist, followed by graduate forward Nick Guadarrama with his fourth straight double-figure performance of 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range and 3-of-3 from the stripe, two rebounds and two blocks.
 
Petar Krivokapic chipped in eight points and six rebounds in 33 minutes, while two-time C-USA Freshman of the Week Arturo Dean finished with seven points, a team-high six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
The Panthers held North Texas to 37.7 percent shooting for the night, though, threes would make the difference, seeing the Mean Green connect on five pivotal threes at a 41.7 percent clip in the second half to finish the contest 32.0 percent from beyond the arc (8-for-25).
 
FIU hit just 4-of-15 from beyond the arc for the contest (26.7%), including a 1-for-6 outing over the final 20 minutes despite leading for 14:33 of the second half.
 
UNT's Tylor Perry led four Mean Green in double figures with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists, followed by Abou Osmane, Jayden Martinez and Kai Huntsberry all with 13 points each.
 
Additionally, North Texas capitalized on 17 second chance points throughout the night, while receiving 19 points from its bench in comparison to FIU's four.
 
Guadarrama buried a 3-pointer at the final horn of the first half to put FIU ahead at the break, 26-25, as the Panthers hit 11-of-18 shots (61.1%) from the floor to hold the edge through the opening 20.
 
The Panthers began to take control immediately out of the intermission, as Guadarrama hit a pair at the line before Petar Krivokapic would convert a fouled 3-point attempt at the line for a five-point edge, 31-25. Denver Jones then shaped into form, scoring 10 of FIU's next 12 points, to hold the Panthers' largest lead of the night at 43-35 to force a UNT timeout by the 13:57 mark.
 
Both teams traded buckets over a five-minute stretch to see FIU lead 53-45 after a Nick Guadarrama and-one with 7:58 to play, though, North Texas would takeover in rattling a 12-0 run to snatch the margin back in their favor with 3:53 remaining, 57-53.
 
A controversial flop technical on the Panthers allowed for a 58-55 Mean Green advantage late prior to Jones summoning a one-point margin (58-57) after a turnaround jumper with 2:33 left. UNT would go on to hit a dagger corner three on the ensuing possession before getting a stop to see Tylor Perry finish a high-arching layup to regain a two-possession lead, 63-57.
 
Krivokapic had a good look at a three of a baseline out of bounds that came off the mark late, as Jones also took it to the rack, unfortunately getting blocked at the rim, to see the Mean Green secure the win at the line in the bonus, 64-57, by the end of regulation.

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE - Head Coach Jeremy Ballard and Petar Krivokapic:


 
UP NEXT
FIU travels to El Paso, Texas, next for a 9 p.m. ET matchup at UTEP on Thursday, Jan. 19, 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.
 
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