FIU MBB Rallies, Knocks Out Jax State To Advance In C-USA Tourney

The FIU Panthers were 0-2 against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in the regular season.

They came into Tuesday’s matchup having lost their last two games and three of their last four.

They didn’t hold a lead until there were 12 minutes left in the contest.

Yet somehow, FIU (11-21, 6-11) survived the first round of the Conference USA Tournament, defeating Jacksonville State by a score of 76-67.

“We knew this was a tough opponent,” FIU head coach Jeremy Ballard said postgame. “Jacksonville State could have won this tournament. … and we knew it would take a great effort from us. But we also talked about how we didn’t need to be perfect.”

“We just needed to be the best version of ourselves, and that our best is good enough. And our best was good enough tonight. We didn’t play perfect by any means. But man, we were perfectly together.”

The Panthers fell behind by as much as 11 points in the first half. Their defense was sound enough to keep them in the game, despite missing their first five three-point attempts.

FIU then rattled off four consecutive three-pointers to bring them to within four points to end the half. After flirting with taking the lead for a few minutes, FIU guard Jaden Grant hit a layup with 12:19 left in the second half.

Both teams would take turns with the lead until an Arturo Dean layup would give FIU a permanent lead with 4:29 left in the game.

It appeared FIU wasn’t quite out of the woods, as JSU stayed within one possession for the next three minutes before Javaunte Hawkins hit a dagger three-pointer to put the Panthers up by six with 1:07 left in the game.

Hawkins and Dean combined for 35 points on Tuesday, with 13 of those coming in the final six minutes. But postgame, Hawkins was quick to deflect the praise to his backcourt, saying “There is no me and Arturo” without their other teammates.

“For example,” Hawkins recounted, “That last play, if it wasn’t for Petar (Krivokapic) running off with my screen super hard to get the defense to bite if it wasn’t for Seth Pinkney timing up the screen to get me open, there’s no such thing as me making a shot.”

Dean was also a menace on the defensive side of the ball. With six steals on Tuesday, Dean now holds the FIU record for most steals in a single season with 101 total

FIU will play at 6:30 pm on Wednesday against the No. 1 seed Sam Houston State Bearkats. FIU is 1-1 against the Bearkats, winning 68-61 at home, and losing 70-56 on the road, both in February.