Florida International University men’s basketball coach Isiah Thomas takes what he calls a simple approach to the game.

“We still want to play inside-out,” he said. “Our little guys are supposed to pass it to the big guys inside and then they score. The last time I looked, the big guys are still winning in this game.”

It took awhile for FIU to execute that plan Saturday night against rival Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, but once the Panthers did, the strategy paid off quite nicely. FIU, after trailing by one point at halftime, took control in the second half and defeated FAU 76-56 in front of 2,854 fans.

The little guy getting the ball to the big guys was 5-10 guard Phil Taylor, who finished with 20 points himself.

“I think our kids did a good job of remaining patient,” Thomas said. “In the second half, we finally got a good run on them. Then Taylor did a good job of closing the game out from the foul line.”

Taylor made 13 of his points from the foul line on 13-of-20 shooting.

Thomas had high praise for FAU and coach Mike Jarvis.

“They definitely make us a better team,” Thomas said of FAU. “The competition with them has been great — it has been good for us even when we lose to them.”

Referring to Jarvis, Thomas said, “He’s been like a mentor to me. We’re rivals, but I have the greatest of respect for him. He’s got a brilliant mind.”

FIU improved to 7-15, 4-6 in the Sun Belt Conference, and FAU fell to 9-14, 5-5.

Jarvis was unhappy with the way his team played.

“We played poorly [Saturday night],” he said. “I wish I had the answer. Every time we got it to a two-point or four-point game, we would throw the ball away or kick it away.

“We had plenty of shots — good shots — and we just didn’t make them. We just need to do what we do and do it better. You practice and then try to do the same thing in the game, and we didn’t do that. The difference wasn’t them, the difference was us.

“We’re not good enough to not play 100 percent. We have to go 110 percent.”

Joining Taylor with 20 points for FIU was Jeremy Allen, and Dominique Ferguson added 16.

FAU was led by Greg Gantt’s 21 points.

Neither team could make much headway in the first half as a tough, physical, push-and-shove 20 minutes ended with FAU holding a 29-28 advantage.

FIU finally made its big move midway through the second half, as the Panthers put together a 13-2 run that included six points from Allen and four from Brandon Moore. That put FIU in control with a 55-42 advantage, and FAU could never get the margin to fewer than 10 points in the final minutes.

For the game, the Panthers outshot the Owls from the field 48.1 percent to 34.5 percent.

FAU stayed with FIU in the first half by holding a significant rebounding edge of 21-14, but by the end of the game, FIU held a 39-31 advantage on the boards.