David Drucker/Staff Writer
Sophomore guard Ray Rodriguez talks about cutting turnovers.
The Panthers (13-14, 6-8 in Conference USA) will travel to West Virginia to play the Marshall University Thundering Herd on Thursday February 26. Senior guard Dennis Mavin will look to guide the Panthers back to a .500 record again during their last road trip of the regular season.
Junior forward Adrian Diaz and his Panthers are coming off of a 56-70 loss to the University of North Texas. Sophomore guard Dominique Williams carried FIU in the first half with eight points and five rebounds, although his team still headed into halftime down 29-25. Mavin’s team-high 19 points in 40 minutes and Diaz’s .67 shooting percentage were not enough to lead a comeback as the Panthers were never able to take the lead in the second half.
Diaz recorded six blocks in the game against North Texas. With 77 blocks on the season, he moved to fourth place on FIU’s all-time blocks list.
The Thundering Herd will be the Panthers’ first repeat opponent of the year. In the two teams’ last meeting, Florida International University won a 66-62 decision in overtime. The Thundering Herd shot 10-20 from three-point land in the first half and ran up a 36-21 halftime lead. They could not continue the trend into the second half, however, and created an opportunity for Mavin and Diaz to lead a FIU comeback. Marshall sunk to 22-70 shooting from the field by the end of the contest.
Marshall University has gone 5-5 in C-USA since their loss to the Panthers. Ryan Taylor leads the Thundering Herd in points per game (14.6), rebounds per game (8.7), and blocks per game (0.8).
Thursday’s tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. The game will be televised on American Sports Network.
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