FIU MBB Ends Regular Season On Sour Note With Loss to NM State

With one last game to go before the Conference-USA Tournament, FIU Men’s Basketball couldn’t end the season on a high note, falling to the New Mexico State Aggies by a score of 77-70.

At points in this game, it felt like a rerun of FIU’s previous loss to UTEP. After an early game delay due to faulty arena lights, the Aggies and Panthers got things going from behind the arc, but NM State eventually pulled away.

With five minutes to go in the first half, New Mexico State got on a nine-point run that FIU tried to match, but the size difference went in favor of the Aggies. which ultimately carried into a 49-30 lead into halftime.

The second half was a bit slower-paced, but both teams hit their shots. As a result, the Panthers couldn’t get on a scoring run and get back into the game.

A 10-point run with 10 minutes to go was ultimately all for nothing and only cut the lead to 16. The Aggies attacked the paint even with a solid defensive performance, as FIU racked up seven blocks and only gave up seven turnovers.

Once again, just like the UTEP game, FIU played some of their basketball with too little time left, butting the lead to seven points with seconds to go. That’s how the score ended – a 77-70 loss.

The killer for the Panthers in this game was how the Aggies dominated around the rim on rebounds. 42 compared to 27 is a sizable difference, with 14 second-chance points coming off of them.

Offensively, no Panthers had a very spectacular performance. Jayden Brewer had a solid outing with 16 points, but that was about it.

With all of that said, FIU finishes off the regular season with a 10-21 record, with a 5-11 record in Conference USA and having lost two straight.

Anything can happen with the postseason, however, and they’ll get a shot. As the ninth seed, they’ll take on the eighth seed Jacksonville State Gamecocks (Who have swept FIU) on Tuesday, March 12th at 8pm.