Panthers come close, lose in final seconds

David Drucker/ Staff Writer

The Panthers (12-15, 6-8 in C-USA) dropped their sixth game of their last seven contests on Thursday, Feb. 18 in a 75-77 loss to the University of North Texas. Deckie Johnson scored a game-high 32 points to lead a UNT comeback and claim the upset win.

It would be difficult to tell why FIU struggled from the stat sheet. The Panthers shot 52 percent from the field and 47 percent from three point range while allowing UNT 40 percent shooting from the field. What doomed FIU was a 20-7 run in the final 5:36 of the game in which they allowed Johnson to play the hero as he scored 16 points in the final stretch.

Junior guard Donte McGill and senior center Adrian Diaz led the way for FIU in the first half; together, they combined for 12-13 shooting from the field. FIU dominated the latter end of the first 20 minutes, outpacing the Mean Green 14-4 to close it out and gain a 37-35 advantage at the intermission.

FIU lost its lead with 13:46 left in the game on a Mean Green dunk to put them up 49-48. The Panthers answered with a 12-0 run, however, with six of those points coming from senior forward Daviyon Draper. With 6:04 left to play, FIU had a commanding 68-56 lead.

The Panthers absorbed a massive 20-7 run in the final minutes by UNT to close the lead. With FIU up 75-73 with 43 seconds left to play, Draper was called for a charge and gave possession back to the Mean Green. UNT’s Johnson then hit a game-winning three with 19 seconds left to down the Panthers 76-75.