FIU fizzles late, falls to Middle Tennessee 73-65

Tre Green scored 25 points to lead Middle Tennessee State to a 73-65 win over Florida International on Thursday in Miami.

The Blue Raiders avenged their first home loss against FIU since 2001, when the two teams were in the Sun Belt Conference and former NBA point guard Carlos Arroyo was leading the Panthers.

Kamari Lands scored 15 points and Jahvin Carter added 12 for the Blue Raiders (16-14, 10-9 C-USA), who have won four straight conference games for the first time this season.

FIU was led by Julian Mackey, who scored 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting. The senior, who is on his fourth team in four years, scored his 1,000th career point. Both Corey Stephenson and Eric Dibami scored 13 points and Zawdie Jackson added 11 points for the Panthers (14-16, 7-12), who missed out on a chance to finish the season with a winning record in Jeremy Ballard’s eighth season as head coach.

Despite making more field goals than MTSU, a lack of three-point shooting (3-of-15) ultimately doomed the Panthers. The Blue Raiders, on top of making 11-of-30 from behind the arc, also made 16-of-19 free throws.

The Panthers pounced on the Blue Raiders with an 8-3 run through the first three minutes of the game. Green single-handedly gave MTSU its first lead of the game with three baskets from the three-point line, putting the Raiders up 9-8 with 15:33 to go until halftime.

Both teams took turns leading throughout most of the first half. A driving layup from Dibami put FIU up 23-22 with 6:40 left until halftime.

Marcus Whitlock Jr. drained a three-pointer to put the Blue Raiders up 33-30 with 1:47 left in the first half. MSTU shot 6-of-15 from the three-point line during the first half.

With a driving layup from Hamed Olayinka and a pair of free throws from Jackson, the Panthers went into halftime leading 34-33. While FIU has struggled from outside (1-of-5 3PT) the three extra field goals and Dibami’s 10 points made the difference for the Panthers in the first half.

The Panthers kept ahead of the Raiders through the first six minutes of the second half. A pair of layups from Jackson highlighted a 10-2 run, putting FIU ahead 49-40.

MTSU went on an 8-2 run before Mackay made a three-pointer to keep the Panthers up 54-48 with 9:37 remaining in the game.

The Raiders stormed back to tie the game 56-56 on a three-pointer by Green with 6:15 remaining. Another three by Green gave MTSU a 59-56 lead with five minutes remaining. A layup from Torey Alston maintained the Raiders’ lead at 64-61 with 3:36 remaining. The Raiders would maintain their lead through the game’s final minutes.

The Panthers host Western Kentucky on Saturday for their season finale. FIU will need to win to punch its ticket into the C-USA Tournament, or hope for a loss from New Mexico State, UTEP, and Delaware.