Sloppy Play Costs FIU MBB, Thrashed by WKU In Two-Game Skid

FIU entered this game winning two of their last three, starting the C-USA stretch of the season on a high note. But heading to the Diddle Arena against a tough WKU team was a bit more than they could handle as they fell by a score of 105-91.

Storywise, things didn’t look good for the Panthers heading into this game as they’ve only won a single game on the road up to this point (Houston Christian) and Western Kentucky is undefeated in the Bluegrass State.

The usual problems for the Cats didn’t magically go away. They struggled to hold on to the ball and couldn’t catch up to a fast-paced offense that pounded the paint. Combine that with a few scoring droughts, and things got questionable early on.

FIU struggled on all cylinders as soon as the game began. Off the rip, a three by Hawkins looked promising, but a pair of 8-0 runs in the early window for WKU gave them separation as FIU failed to find a groove on offense.

When the Panthers did score, it was mainly from beyond the three-point line, but the Hilltoppers attacked the rim more consistently and at a faster pace, leaving FIU in the dust in the first half.

But the turnovers were the early story of the game, with nine points scored by WKU solely off of FIU fumbles, a recurring problem this season. Still, the Tops didn’t fare much better as they were equally sloppy with the ball.

That’s honestly the only reason why this game stayed close. FIU eventually got hot in the trailing minutes of the first half, thanks to the duo of Arturo Dean and Petar Krivokapic. A Hawkins buzzer-beater dropped the deficit to 49-46 at halftime.

In striking distance of their first lead since the beginning of the game, FIU sputtered when the Hilltoppers got on yet another run, falling to a deficit of 15 with less than 15 minutes to go.

With under 10 minutes to go, that deficit increased to 24 as the Panthers’ defense was helpless to stop the Hilltoppers and couldn’t match their tempo.

This is the first time all season that FIU has given up over 100 points in a game, which is especially wild considering the Hilltoppers average around 70 points per game, similar to FIU.

Scoring-wise, Krivokapic led the way with 17. Dean did a little bit of everything as he wrapped up with 15 points, five assists, five steals, and three rebounds.

Aside from the first three to start the game and the buzzer-beater before halftime, Hawkins didn’t do much else as he finished with eight points. Filling in was George Pridgett Jr who racked up 15 points off the bench.

Another tough loss resulted in FIU’s record dropping to 7-13 overall and 2-3 in conference play. They’ll have a chance to rebound this upcoming Saturday, January 27th, as they’ll take on the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro at 6 pm.