By: Malcolm Shields / Staff Writer
Although the Panthers were able to distance themselves against Florida Memorial in their exhibition game with an 86-69 victory, they did not play a particularly clean game.
The Panthers allowed for Florida Memorial to shoot over 45 percent from the field and allowed for the Lions to go 11-for-16 from the free throw line to keep the game close at halftime. The Golden Panthers also struggled to knock down their free throws as FIU shot only 54 percent from the line.
“We didn’t play like we wanted to play,” DeJuan Wright said of the first half. “Coach got into us a little [at halftime] and the second half, we came out with a little bit more fire. We will work on tightening up our defense and our offense and get ready for Monday night.”
CARRYING THE LOAD
Guards Jeremy Allen, Wright and Phil Taylor accounted for 50 of the team’s 86 points in the win.
“Phil is a tremendous little guard. DeJuan is an exceptional player for us also,” head coach Isiah Thomas said. “Phil, Jeremy and DeJuan… they are very potent for us offensively.”
With the experience that the Panthers have in their backcourt, the backcourt advantage may be in their favor against George Mason who will start a completely new backcourt from last season.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Newcomers Tola Akomolafe, Gilles Dierickx, and Tanner Wozniak all logged playing time against Florida Memorial. Akomolafe was given the starting nod and played 31 minutes and collected eight points and nine rebounds.
Dierickx saw limited action against Florida Memorial, as he played only five minutes. Wozniak went 3-for-4 from behind the arch and finished with nine points in eight minutes of play.
FIRST UP: GEORGE MASON
George Mason enters the matchup against the Panthers without some of their key contributors from last seasons’ Colonial Athletic Association regular season championship team. George Mason finished last season with a 27-7 record.
According to ESPN.com, the Patriots will be without senior guard Andre Cornelius who was suspended for the first 10 games of the Patriots season due his pleading guilty to misdemeanor credit card fraud charge.
Cornelius’ backcourt mate from last season’s NCAA tournament team, Luke Hancock transferred to Louisville at the end of last season. It is expected that guards Byron Allen, Vertrail Vaughns and Sherrod Wright will platoon together in the backcourt on Monday night against the Golden Panthers.
In the frontcourt, the Patriots will be led by forwards Ryan Pearson and Mike Morrison. Pearson was the second leading scorer on the Patriots last season with 14.2 points per game.
Paul Hewitt, formerly the head coach of Georgia Tech, leads the Patriots in his first season after replacing long time coach Jim Larranaga.
“We got a lot of old tape on them last year. They played a lot of zone, but that was under a different coach,” Thomas said. “I’m sure Paul will come in and try to be much more up tempo. We will try to figure out what Paul has done in the past and try to scout around it.”