Men's Basketball Defeated by FIU 69-50

Wednesday, February 5

University Park, Fla.

7 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

-1410, 65 CUSA

FIU

-158, 74 CUSA

FAU

FIU

2020 FAU Men's Basketball vs Palm Beach Atlantic

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

2/5/2020 9:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team could not withstand a hot-shooting second half performance from FIU, falling to the Panthers 69-50 on Wednesday night. The Owls are now 14-10 overall and 6-5 in Conference USA play.

The Owls' defense kept them in the game in the first half, holding the Panthers (15-8, 7-4 C-USA) to just 38.7% shooting from the floor. That, combined with nine points from Aleksandar Zecevic, had FAU within nine at the half, 32-23.

Five Panther 3-pointers helped them extend their lead to as many as 25 in the second half. FAU continued to battle, and got the deficit down to 16 on two different occasions, but couldn't get any closer, as FIU shot 46.7% in the second half.

Notables

Zecevic had 13 points and five rebounds to lead the Owls in both categories. It was his second straight double-digit scoring game
Cornelius Taylor scored nine points to go along with three rebounds, three steals and an assist
Madiaw Niang posted six points, four rebounds, three blocks and a steal
Kenan Blackshear came off the bench to record four points, four rebounds and three steals
FAU's bench outscored FIU's reserves 31-19 on the night

Quotables
FAU Head Coach Dusty May
"We have to regroup and figure out a way to make some adjustments on Saturday, because (FIU) is a talented basketball team, especially when they're shooting the ball well."

What's Next
FAU hosts FIU in a rematch on Saturday, Feb. 8. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, live stats will be available at fausports.com, and the game can be heard on FOX Sports 640AM. Live updates will be posted to the team's official Twitter account, @FAU_Hoops.