# 2014–15 FIU Panthers men's basketball team

The 2014–15 FIU Panthers men's basketball team represented Florida International University during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by second year head coach Anthony Evans, played their home games at FIU Arena, and were members of Conference USA. They finished the season 16–17, 8–10 in C-USA play in a 4-way tie for seventh place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament where they lost to UTEP.

## Previous season

The Panthers finished the season 15–16, 7–9 in C-USA play to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place. Due to APR penalties, they were ineligible for a post-season berth, including the 2014 Conference USA men's basketball tournament.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Raymond Taylor | 2 | G | 5'6" | 145 | RS Senior | Miami, FL | Graduated |
| Jerome Frink | 3 | F | 6'6" | 220 | Sophomore | Jersey City, NJ | Transferred |
| Dee Lewis | 5 | G | 6'3" | 195 | RS Freshman | Ocala, FL | Left the team |
| Tymell Murphy | 15 | F | 6'5" | 210 | Senior | Brooklyn, NY | Graduated |
| Rakeen Buckles | 21 | F | 6'7" | 215 | RS Senior | Miami, FL | Graduated |
| Ivan Jurkovic | 25 | C | 7'0" | 245 | Senior | Zagreb, Croatia | Graduated |
| Adriel Jimenez | 32 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Sophomore | Miami, FL | Left the team |
| George Naldjieff | 33 | F | 6'6" | 225 | Senior | Miami, FL | Graduated |
| Joey De La Rosa | 34 | C | 6'11" | 240 | Junior | Bronx, NY | Left the team |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Michael Phillip | 32 | C | 6'9" | 200 | Junior | Bronx, NY | Junior college transfer from Monroe College |

## Recruiting class of 2014

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Hassan Hussein PF | Lorton, VA | Mount Zion Baptist Christian School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 70 ||||||
| Larry Dennis PF | Wichita, KS | Sunrise Christian Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Feb 13, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 69 ||||||
| Elliott Smith SF | Oakley, CA | Freedom High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | May 19, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 63 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 3, 2014. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/14/2014* 7:30 pm | Florida College | W 64–42 | 1–0 | FIU Arena (1,391) Miami, FL |
| 11/18/2014* 7:00 pm | at Stetson | W 53–52 | 2–0 | Edmunds Center (1,032) DeLand, FL |
| 11/21/2014* 7:30 pm | Florida Memorial | W 74–48 | 3–0 | FIU Arena (1,394) Miami, FL |
| 11/24/2014* 7:00 pm | at Georgia Southern | L 72–78 | 3–1 | Hanner Fieldhouse (728) Statesboro, GA |
| 11/27/2014* 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | at USC Upstate USC Upstate Tournament | L 53–68 | 3–2 | Hodge Center (488) Spartanburg, SC |
| 11/28/2014* 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | vs. Wright State USC Upstate Tournament | W 61–59 | 4–2 | Hodge Center (374) Spartanburg, SC |
| 11/29/2014* 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | vs. Cal State Fullerton USC Upstate Tournament | L 61–64 | 4–3 | Hodge Center (314) Spartanburg, SC |
| 12/02/2014* 7:30 pm | Kennesaw State | W 59–38 | 5–3 | FIU Arena (1,042) Miami, FL |
| 12/05/2014* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at No. 5 Louisville | L 57–82 | 5–4 | KFC Yum! Center (20,541) Louisville, KY |
| 12/14/2014* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Florida Gulf Coast | W 69–63 | 6–4 | Alico Arena (3,511) Fort Myers, FL |
| 12/18/2014* 7:00 pm | at LIU Brooklyn | L 58–69 | 6–5 | Steinberg Wellness Center (1,078) Brooklyn, NY |
| 12/21/2014* 2:30 pm | at Hartford | L 69–82 | 6–6 | Chase Arena (2,310) Hartford, CT |
| 12/29/2014* 7:00 pm | at Florida A&M | W 76–55 | 7–6 | Teaching Gym (279) Tallahassee, FL |
| 01/04/2015 2:00 pm | at Florida Atlantic | W 62–60 | 8–6 (1–0) | FAU Arena (1,197) Boca Raton, FL |
| 01/08/2015 8:00 pm | at Middle Tennessee | L 52–65 | 8–7 (1–1) | Murphy Center (2,587) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 01/10/2015 3:00 pm | at UAB | L 53–70 | 8–8 (1–2) | Bartow Arena (2,806) Birmingham, AL |
| 01/15/2015 7:30 pm | Marshall | W 66–62 $^{OT}$ | 9–8 (2–2) | FIU Arena (N/A) Miami, FL |
| 01/17/2015 6:00 pm | WKU | L 58–65 | 9–9 (2–3) | FIU Arena (1,370) Miami, FL |
| 01/29/2015 7:00 pm | at Old Dominion | L 56–71 | 9–10 (2–4) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (6,489) Norfolk, VA |
| 01/31/2015 7:00 pm | at Charlotte | W 78–70 | 10–10 (3–4) | Dale F. Halton Arena (4,021) Charlotte, NC |
| 02/03/2015 7:30 pm | Florida Atlantic | W 64–56 | 11–10 (4–4) | FIU Arena (1,543) Miami, FL |
| 02/05/2015 7:30 pm | UTSA | L 63–74 | 11–11 (4–5) | FIU Arena (919) Miami, FL |
| 02/07/2015 5:30 pm, ASN | UTEP | L 64–67 | 11–12 (4–6) | FIU Arena (1,312) Miami, FL |
| 02/12/2015 9:00 pm, FSN | at Southern Miss | W 73–71 $^{OT}$ | 12–12 (5–6) | Reed Green Coliseum (3,015) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 02/14/2015 7:00 pm | at Louisiana Tech | L 42–75 | 12–13 (5–7) | Thomas Assembly Center (3,314) Ruston, LA |
| 02/19/2015 8:00 pm, ASN | at Rice | W 60–56 | 13–13 (6–7) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,051) Houston, TX |
| 02/21/2015 6:00 pm | at North Texas | L 56–70 | 13–14 (6–8) | The Super Pit (1,408) Denton, TX |
| 02/26/2015 8:00 pm, ASN | at Marshall | L 69–87 | 13–15 (6–9) | Cam Henderson Center (4,886) Huntington, WV |
| 02/28/2015 8:00 pm | at WKU | L 61–77 | 13–16 (6–10) | E. A. Diddle Arena (7,119) Bowling Green, KY |
| 03/05/2015 7:30 pm | Middle Tennessee | W 59–54 | 14–16 (7–10) | FIU Arena (1,041) Miami, FL |
| 03/07/2015 8:00 pm, ASN | UAB | W 70–66 | 15–16 (8–10) | FIU Arena (951) Miami, FL |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| 03/11/2015 11:00 am, ASN | vs. UTSA First round | W 57–54 | 16–16 | Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex Birmingham, AL |
| 03/12/2015 1:00 pm, ASN | vs. UTEP Quarterfinal | L 71–83 | 16–17 | Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex Birmingham, AL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||