Christopher Rodriguez | Staff Writer
The FIU men’s basketball team will face-off against Jax State at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center on Wed. Jan. 28, at 7 p.m..,
In their previous game, the Panthers snapped their losing streak after defeating New Mexico State and also got their first win away from home
After starting the season 9-5, FIU has only won one of their previous six games, including a five game losing streak.
Now fresh from their first away win, the Panthers are looking to correct that wrong and secure a win at home against the Gamecocks and improve their conference record as they look to move up from #9 in the Conference USA standings.
Against New Mexico, the team was able to secure a much needed win. Senior Corey Stephenson scored 25 points, marking the third time he has scored that many in his career. He also recorded 12 boards, a career high.
Senior Julian Mackey was second in scoring for FIU and was mostly dominating behind the three-point line, Mackey was 3-6 on three-point shots for a game total of 12 points.
Freshman Thiago Sucatzky was able to mobilize the ball evenly among his teammates, setting up 4 assists.
Following the game against New Mexico State, head coach Jeremy Ballard said, “I’m proud of these guys, when you’re in the middle of a losing streak, it’s easy to get frustrated and have doubt, but they never did. They stayed together, kept believing, and trusted the process.”
Now, with 11 games left in the season the team is looking to bounce back and finish strong as they aim to get back to the post season and win the first Conference USA Championship in program history.
Final Thoughts:
FIU is coming from a difficult win at New Mexico and are looking to keep that energy and bring it at home. However, Jax State is 5-3 against conference rivals and are #3 in the Conference USA Standings so FIU will face some adversity against the Gamecocks. However, it is still late January and as February begins things could always shift and Conference USA can be full of surprises.
Score Predictions:
FIU Panthers-73
Jax State Gamecocks– 65
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