David Drucker/ Staff Writer
After watching the Panthers down the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs in outstanding fashion, perhaps we should begin to ask: is 2016 the year of the Panther?
Everything went right for the Florida International University men’s basketball team (9-8, 3-1 in Conference USA) in their 88-74 win over LA Tech. Junior guard Donte McGill went on a tear, scoring a game-high 29 points on 10-18 shooting. Senior forward Daviyon Draper was able to cook up offense whenever the team began to stall – he finished with 18 points on 8-13 shooting. Center Adrian Diaz was able to play a team-high 36 minutes because he didn’t pick up a single foul in the first half.
“We talk about having the same type of effort every game that we play,” head coach Anthony Evans said. “It’s just a matter of going out and doing it consistently.”
FIU barraged the Bulldogs, crushing their press and confusing their coaches. They took the lead from the tip and never looked back, as if nobody told them that they were up against a 13-3 team with the conference’s most dangerous offense.
In this game, it was the Panthers’ own offense that was particularly impressive. They shot 56.9% from the field and 50% from behind the arc. They passed good shots up for great shots. Many of FIU’s opportunities on offense revolved around the extra attention the Bulldogs paid to Diaz.
“When [Diaz] is not in foul trouble, we can throw the ball into him because teams have to double down and he’s going to create offense for other people,” said Evans.
Defensively, FIU held its own. Louisiana Tech is not the kind of program that often gets ‘shut down.’ Going into the contest, the Bulldogs were averaging 80.6 points per game; FIU held them to 74 points on 41.4% shooting. The Panthers were able to contest shots the entire first half, and when LA Tech tried to cut FIU’s lead through three-pointers, FIU held them to 2-11 from behind the arc in the second half. In fact, 16 second chance points – most of them coming in the form of easy layups – bloated LA Tech’s shooting percentage.
“We weren’t going to stop them for scoring, but it was getting the stops when it counted,” said Evans.
The Panthers were either tied or in sole possession of the lead through the entire game. They gained it early thanks to McGill, who was 5-6 from the field with 12 points before the first half was even halfway over. LA Tech put a full court press on FIU early on, but retired the strategy after the Panthers routinely avoided the pressure. Junior guard Jason Boswell was also knocking down shots in the first half and helped space the floor – he ended with 11 points, adding 2 assists, 2 steals and a block. As FIU began to pull away, Evans kept the pressure on the Bulldogs and put in junior forward Elmo Stephen, who sank two triples with ease. At the half, FIU was on top 52-41.
Although his team had an 11 point lead, anybody who knows C-USA knows that FIU couldn’t afford to cruise through the rest of the game and expect LA Tech to give up. FIU knew it too, and continued to look for quality shots. Although Diaz only finished with 11 points, he proved his worth yet again in the second half, drawing defenders underneath to create open looks. Defensively, FIU performed even better in the second half, forcing LA Tech to shoot 38.7%. The Panthers improved their all-time record with the Bulldogs to 4-5.
Next up for the Panthers is a home game on Saturday, Jan. 16 against the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.
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