Bautista Samperi | Sports Director
The FIU men’s basketball team (2-2) will host the FIU MTE starting on Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. when they face the James Madison Dukes.
This will be the third time the two teams have faced each other and the first since 2017. The Dukes have won all three games including a 76-67 victory in the last matchup.
In the MTE, FIU will also face Omaha on Wednesday, Nov. 26, at 2 p.m..
The Panthers come into the game with momentum having defeated the Fort Lauderdale Eagles in their last outing. That game was the 100th career win for Jeremy Ballard, becoming only the second head coach in program history to reach the milestone.
Coach Ballard is now only nine wins away from surpassing Rich Walker as the winningest coach in FIU history.
Against the Eagles, sophomore Ashton Williamson, had a career night scoring a career-high 19 points on 7-9 shooting and 4-5 threes, he also contributed with six assists.
Senior Brit Harris, was also a key player for the team scoring 16 points with 3 three pointers, while Ibrahim Olajuwon, who made his first career start, scored 14 and grabbed seven boards.
Julian Mackey tied the school record going 12-12 from the free-throw line.
The Panthers are top-20 in the country in three different statistical categories: offensive rebounds per game (5th), turnovers forced per game (18th) and rebounds per game (19th).
After the MTE, FIU will return to regular season play by facing three state rivals. The Panthers will face Florida Gulf Coast University (Dec. 3, 7 p.m.), Jacksonville (Dec. 6, 2 p.m.) and The University of Miami (Dec. 16, 7 p.m.).
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