Christopher Rodriguez | Staff Writer
The Panthers men’s basketball team (7-4) wish to continue their 7-1 home record against one of their conference rivals, the Liberty University Flames (8-3).
The Panthers are looking to dethrone the Flames as they are the current Conference USA champions as they begin to face all CUSA teams for the rest of the season.
This will be the seventh matchup between FIU and Liberty with the Panthers holding a losing 2-4 record against the Flames.
Senior Corey Stephenson is currently leading the Panthers in points per game with 18.1. Most of his scoring is coming from the 3 point line as he has made 27 threes. He is also leading the team in total rebounds with 74.
Sophomore Ashton Williamson is consistently adding on to his FIU resume as he is currently leading the Panthers in assists with a total of 39.
FIU is not only dominant on the offensive side of the ball but is also proficient on the defensive side as well. Freshman Eric Dibami is the current Conference USA leader in Average Blocks per Game with 1.6, while Senior Larry Olayinka is tied for second with 1.5.
During the previous season, FIU faced the Flames two times and were outplayed and outscored in both games with final scores of 82-59 in Miami on Jan. 25 and 58-45 in Lynchburg on Feb. 22.
The last Panther win over Liberty came during the 2023-24 season when FIU defeated the Flames 76-71.
During FIU’s last game against TCJ, freshman Thiago Sucatzky had a career day with 15 points, seven assists and three steals.
Senior Brit Harris, who is in the middle of his first season with FIU, is only five points away from reaching 1,000 in his career. Meanwhile, head coach Jeremy Ballard, who has been with the Panthers for over seven years, is four wins from breaking the program record set by Rich Walker.
Final Thoughts: Before the season started, FIU had high hopes to make it to the NCAA Tournament for this upcoming year. It is currently December and the Panthers have lost to some big teams, like LSU, Nebraska, and Miami, but have made up for it by dominating at home. However, they lost to an equally talented team at home, James Madison. This game can be the right direction that FIU needs to properly set the tone for the conference considering the next two months will be consecutive Conference USA games.
Score Prediction:
FIU Panthers Final/OT Liberty Flames
113 110
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