For the most part, FIU's 2007-08 basketball season looked a lot like the previous season.

The Golden Panthers showed flashes of potential at times and even won three straight at one point in February, including two against Sun Belt tournament semifinal teams Middle Tennessee and UALR, but they rarely maintained their momentum.

The result was a ninth consecutive losing season for FIU (9-20, 6-12 Sun Belt) and its fourth straight losing year under coach Sergio Rouco. It all came to an end in the first round of the Sun Belt tournament with an ugly 91-64 first-round loss at rival FAU, just two weeks after the Golden Panthers won on FAU's home court.

"FAU came out and beat the heck out of us tonight," Rouco. "I told my team that just because we beat them twice this year, they weren't going to give us anything. We would have to earn a win. But the only thing we did tonight was put on the uniform and show up. We didn't compete early on."

The season was not without its merits. The arrival of 7-footer Russell Hicks from Pepperdine made the Golden Panthers a much better team in the paint and allowed junior forward Alex Galindo to spend more time at the three spot. Both of those players are expected to return next season.

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