TAKEAWAYS – FIU Drops Season Opener To Rice

Jeremy Ballard’s team was unable to defeat Rice to begin the 2024-25 season. A rough first half for the Panthers would be enough for the Owls to take a lead that they wouldn’t look back on, winning by a final score of 77-70.

Returners With A Big Night

It didn’t take long for Jayden Brewer in his second career start to get it going for the Panthers. He ended the night with 18 points and eight rebounds.

After a slow first half, being limited to three points, Dashon Gittens heated up in the second half and finished the night with 18 points, shooting 6-15 from the field and 2-6 from the three-point line.

Travis Gray Comes Up Big In Debut

After redshirting last season, senior forward Travis Gray had a strong off-season and cracked the rotation. In his FIU debut, he finished with 15 points, and eight rebounds, shot 6-7 from the field, and was a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc.

During the 2023-24 season, the team considered burning Gray’s redshirt but decided not to do it. He made a strong impression right away to begin the 2024-25 season.

Freshman Shows A Bit Of Everything

It was well known that freshman point guard Ashton Williamson would get some minutes off the bench, but he led the team with 34 minutes played.

Williamson ended the night with six points, six rebounds, and three assists and went 3-9 from the field. It’s still early, but he showed that FIU can always use a traditional point guard – a different dynamic from what they had last year.

Foul Trouble Hurt FIU

There’s no question that FIU got into foul trouble early on, which affected the rest of the game and the players who played a certain amount of minutes.

Both Asim Jones and Vianney Salatchoum fouled out. Two players were toying with four fouls and three players with three fouls.

Second Half Success

FIU went into the half trailing by a score of 38-27 and where they were down the most was in the rebound battle, trailing 27-19.

The Panthers not only outscored Rice 43-39 in the second half of play but also won the rebound battle, 21-14. FIU shot 75% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc.

What’s Next?

With the loss, FIU will begin 0-1 for a second straight season. The Panthers are back at it on Saturday, November 9th against Southern Utah. The game will tip-off at 8:30pm and can be streamed on ESPN+.