FIU Men’s Basketball Struggles In Second Half, Drops Home Opener To Tarleton State

MIAMI, FL – After suffering a tough opening night loss to the UCF Knights, the FIU Panthers looked to collect their first win of the 2023-24 season against the Tarleton State Texans, a team that’s making the transition from the D2 level.

Ultimately, a close game in the first half eventually spiraled into a Texans blowout as the Panthers couldn’t capitalize on late takeaways as they fell by a score of 82-65.

Turnovers On All Ends

Just like in the UCF game in which the Panthers committed 24 turnovers, FIU had 21 tonight, which Tarleton was able to take advantage of and score 24 points off of them.

Despite the Panthers’ struggles early on, being down by as much as 12, FIU was able to force 26 turnovers on the night but weren’t able to capitalize off of those and ended the night with just 18 points.

A big reason for the Panthers forcing those 26 turnovers was the full-court press that they ran throughout the majority of the game.

“When we were able to get in the press, it caused a lot of problems,” said FIU head coach Jeremy Ballard postgame. “We’ve got to play smarter. We’ve got to pay more attention to detail, which needs to be better in our execution, our attention to detail and fixing it out to the press has to be better. We want to do well, but we just have to consistently be more locked in.”

Ballard did note the high amount of turnovers that they have forced is good, but they just need to build off of that.

The Rebound Battle Is Lost

For the second straight game, the Panthers were not able to out-rebound their opponent. This time around, FIU only had 25 rebounds compared to Tarleton State’s 47 on the night.

To make matters worse, 19 of those rebounds came on offense and they were able to capitalize enough to have 19 second-chance points against the Panthers 10 offensive rebounds and nine second-chance points.

Ballard mentioned in his postgame press conference that being out-rebounded “negated the fact” that they forced 26 turnovers.

The Newest Aybar Has A Strong Home Debut

Jonathan Aybar, son of former FIU Panther Ramon Aybar, transferred to FIU after spending two seasons at the University of North Florida.

After only having four points in the Panthers’ opening game, he vastly improved in the second game of the season, dropping 14 points, four rebounds, two assists, four steals and a blocked shot.

“Jonathan’s a wonderful young man,” said Ballard when asked about Aybar’s performance. “I’m proud to be his coach. Happy to see him play in the building that his daddy played in and Jonathan’s gonna have a great career for us.”

Aybar, who stands at 6’9 can spread the floor and give the Panthers another big-man option. This time around, he did make two three-pointers, unlike the game against the Knights where he went blank in that department.

Stat Leaders And Notes

After only scoring two points and fouling out, Arturo Dean had his usual night, scoring 14 points, two rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Dean did have to come out of the game multiple times due to what was later reported as cramps.

“He’s a competitor,” said Ballard. “He’s a warrior and wants to win. The barometer for his success is never going to be how many points he scores. He can score 20 plus, but he can help us win by 20 and not even score a point.”

Despite going 1-5 from the free throw line, Jayden Brewer came off the bench and gave the Panthers 10 points, four rebounds, and three steals. He still has a lot of improving to do, as Ballard recognized, but helped the Panthers on both ends of the floor.

“He’s a great young man and he’s only scratching the surface,” said Ballard. “He had 10 points and was 1-5 from the free throw line and had a couple of missed layups that he would love to have back. He could have easily had 20 and he’s capable of doing that.”

For the Texans, the story of the night was forward Jakorie Smith who dropped 34 points, two assists, eight rebounds, and six steals. It felt as if Smith just couldn’t miss.

What’s Next?

Following tonight’s loss, the Panthers drop to 0-2 on the young season. The Panthers’ schedule doesn’t get any easier as they take on their neighbors just 20 minutes away – the #13 Miami Hurricanes, who are coming off their NCAA Final Four appearance.

Tipoff from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables is on Monday, November 13th at 7pm.

FIU’s next home game isn’t until November 26th when they host future Conference USA opponent Kennesaw State.