FAU lost its sixth-straight game 86-65 after a defensive collapse against Florida International.

The Owls (10-13, 4-8 C-USA) allowed FIU (7-19, 4-9 C-USA) to score a season-high 86 points in Saturday’s defeat.

A second quarter buzzer-beating FIU three-pointer off of an FAU turnover exemplified the game, as the Panthers exploded for 50 points in the first 20 minutes of play.

FAU allowed 15 points off of eight turnovers in the first half—only 10 less than the Owls’ 25 total first half points.

FIU came into Saturday’s game with the worst turnover margin in C-USA play at -3.92, but the Owls were unable to take advantage. The team doubled the Panthers seven turnovers with 14 giveaways of their own.

FIU entered the game on a seven-game losing streak and boasted the second-worst scoring margin in Conference-USA play at -10.5.

Senior guard/forward Sasha Cedeño became the eighth player in FAU history to score at least 1,000 career points. Cedeño now looks to pass Sherri Pla’s 1,070 career points to become the seventh leading scorer in FAU history.

Cedeño and redshirt junior guard Danneal Ford scored 17 and 16 respectively and both pulled down seven rebounds in the Owls’ defeat.

The Panthers led by as much as 26 in the first half as FAU shot 33 percent from the field and missed all four of its attempted three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.

An FIU three-pointer early in the fourth quarter extended the Panthers lead to 30.

FAU nearly matched its 25 first half point total with a 23 point third quarter, but FIU’s offense kept rolling. A Panthers three-pointer with seconds remaining capped off a 22 point period.

FIU was lights out from three-point range against the Owls, shooting 50 percent on 11 makes.

FIU’s fifty percent shooting from deep against FAU is nearly 12 percent higher than the 38.2 percent the Panthers have shot from the field this season.

FIU’s bench was also a major difference maker, outscoring the FAU bench 28-6.

Guard Kristian Hudson scored 18 first half points for the Panthers.

An 11-0 FIU run early in the second quarter brought the Panthers ahead 34-17 with six minutes remaining in the period.

FIU hit five-straight shots in an 11-0 run to regain its lead midway through the first quarter.

FAU opened the game with a 7-0 run on an and-one layup from junior forward Ra’Kyra Gabriel and two scores from Cedeño.

Ford knocked down a jumper with time expiring in the first quarter to bring the Owls within eight, 23-15.

FAU lost its third straight head-to-head game against FIU and fell to 10-32 all-time against the Panthers.

Saturday’s defeat marked FAU’s fourth double-digit loss in its six game losing streak.

FAU returns to the Burrow to take on Southern Miss on Feb. 23  at 7:00 p.m.

Wajih AlBaroudi is a contributing writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email[email protected] or tweet @WajihAlBaroudi