Despite first half lead, Panthers cannot capitalize and fall to Middle Tennessee

With slow starts to both the first and second half, the  Panthers dug themselves into a hole they could not climb out of. Dominic Ferguson’s career-high tying 20 points were not enough, as the Panthers were defeated by the Blue Raiders 70-59 on Jan. 12. In the press conference, Head Coach Isiah Thomas was almost at a lost for words.“Our offense is just not good enough. For the most part, we can hang our hat on our defense,” Thomas said. “But when you lose guys out of the lineup, you struggle.”

Senior Jeremy Allen added 19 points and 11 rebounds for FIU (4-12, 1-3 SBC), who has now lost six of their last seven games, winning only against Western Kentucky on Dec 31.

Middle Tennessee (16-2, 5-0 SBC) continues to lead the conference, maintaining a two game cushion in the East division.

Although the Panthers won the rebounding battle, 36-33, they could not keep control of the ball, committing 18 turnovers to Middle Tennessee’s 10. Adding to the team’s struggle was no player scoring double-digit points, aside from Ferguson and Allen.

“You can take half of those turnovers and convert it into points. Guys just have to step up,” Allen said. “We have to take care of the ball. We have to set the tempo.”

The Panthers got off to a sluggish start, quickly falling behind 9-2 in the first four minutes of play, forcing Head Coach Isiah Thomas to call an early timeout. The squad quickly made up the deficit with a 13-5 run, including a three by Tanner Wozniak and an emphatic two-handed dunk by Ferguson, to tie the game at 15 with 8:37 left in the first half. Ferguson’s dunk was just two of his 14 points in the first half.

“In our last game against, I noticed that they didn’t have anyone to match up with so I took advantage of it,” Ferguson said.

FIU continued to force the Blue Raiders into tough shots, extending the Panther lead to five late in the first half, 25-20. Both teams struggled to end the first half, as the Panthers managed only four points in the last five minutes, including missing three of their final four shots and converting one free throw down the stretch. A three-pointer by Phil Taylor with 35 seconds gave FIU a 29-26 halftime lead.

The Blue Raiders jumped out on a 9-0 to begin the second half forcing Thomas to burn a timeout. A back-and-forth continued between the teams, not allowing FIU to gain ground on the scoreboard. The Blue Raiders built their lead to 14, including a strong jam by Shawn Jones to leave the Panthers searching for ways to stopping the Middle Tennessee attack. After trailing by as many as 16, FIU was able to cut the deficit down to eight with 1:40 left in the game, as it was too little, too late.

“We just have to keep developing our young players to be better offensively,” Thomas said. “Right now, offensively, we’re challenged.”

With a game in less than 48 hours, on Jan. 14 against Louisiana, Thomas can find comfort in something his team does well.

“We do well on the defensive side of the ball,” Thomas said. As long as we continue to play well on the defensive end, we can stay in games.”