Panthers’ win over UTSA ends five-game skid
“For the most part I felt we were in control as a team,” said McGill. “We stayed in control and didn’t let their defense get to us.”
“For the most part I felt we were in control as a team,” said McGill. “We stayed in control and didn’t let their defense get to us.”
The Panthers were dominated on the boards: FIU surrendered a season-high 20 offensive rebounds and 22 second chance points. This disappointing effort comes two days after the Charlotte 49ers out-hustled the Panthers as well, redeeming 17 second effort points in the process.
“It’s a learning process. We need to learn to play with the same energy we’ve had all year and have to stay focused. I don’t think we played with energy tonight. I think we came out flat,” said Head Coach Anthony Evans.
The Panthers’ fifth-best C-USA scoring offense (75.3 PPG) will face a UTEP defense that ranks fifth in the conference scoring defense (71.2 points allowed per game) and first in defensive field goal percentage (39.3).
The Panthers pulled away in the second half thanks to a surge led by McGill. FIU extended its lead to as much as 17 points with 8:25 left to play in the second half and UTSA was not shooting well enough from three to cut the lead in such a short amount of time.
“When I talk about the consistency [I want], I talk about consistent effort and I don’t think we gave the same effort tonight that we did [last game],” said Head Coach Anthony Evans.
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.
From the end of the fall semester to the beginning of spring, the Panthers compiled a 4-3 record, redeeming some of their early season troubles as they fought their way back to .500 (8-8, 2-1 in Conference USA).
David Drucker/Staff Writer The men’s basketball team (13-13) pulled out a last-minute 60-56 victory over the Rice University Owls on Thursday night. Sophomore guard Ray Rodriguez…
David Drucker/Contributing Writer Dennis Mavin discusses the final shot. The men’s basketball team dropped to 11-12 after a…