Men’s Basketball Drops To 0-2 After Road Loss To Southern Utah

After falling in their season opener, the Panthers couldn’t lock down win #1 tonight as they fell to Southern Utah by a score of 80-75. This makes them 0-2 for the second-straight season in a road trip that they’ll look to forget.

From The Ash Comes A Hero

Not all is doom and gloom for FIU, but they’ll need to find some answers soon as they get ready for their home opener. One positive has been Ashton Williamson, who collected 14 points and four assists. He’s also been the workhorse of the team with 30 minutes played tonight.

In addition, we also got to see the emergence of Vianney Salatchoum after fouling out against Rice. He didn’t miss a beat, dropping 10 points, five boards, two blocked shots, an assist, and a steal.

Back On The Bench

That’s where the positives seem to end. Much like the Rice game, the Panthers fell into foul trouble early. While only one Panther fouled out, it happened to be Jonathan Aybar, who caught a technical early on.

Dashon Gittens came close with four fouls, but it meant some of FIU’s best players sitting out long periods of the game. 27 personal fouls are not a good look for a team loaded with veteran leadership.

Thunder AND Lightning

The Panthers have looked to the three-point line for scoring, but it hasn’t worked out for them so far. Tonight, FIU went 5-22 from beyond the arc. Southern Utah didn’t fare much better, going 2-12.

In addition, FIU lost the rebound battle once again, with 32 rebounds on the night compared to Southern Utah’s 38. Losing Aybar early on certainly contributed to that.

All in all, an 0-2 record to begin the campaign is not how the Panthers thought this season would go. However, they’ll finally head back home to take on the Florida National Conquistadors on Thursday, November 14th at 7pm.