Christopher Rodriguez | Staff Writer
The FIU Panthers Men’s Basketball face off against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders away from home on Wednesday, Feb 4, at 7:30 p.m..
The last time FIU faced Middle Tennessee, which was on March 8th, 2025, where the Panther got blown out by the Blue Raiders in Tennessee, 56-78.
This matchup will mark the 50th time the Panthers have faced the Blue Raiders. FIU currently has a losing record against their conference opponents as the team coached by Jeremy Ballard has only managed to secure 12 victories and have lost a total of 38 times.
FIU is currently ranked #10 in the Conference USA standings with 3-7 conference record just shy behind the 4-7 #9 UTEP Miners.
The Panthers are coming off a tough loss at home against Jacksonville State and are looking to redeem themselves on the road at Tennessee.
Senior Corey Stephenson is still one of the top 5 leaders when it comes to scoring in the Conference USA statistics with 354 points on the season (avg. 17.7).
In Wednesday’s game against Jacksonville State, Stephenson managed to score 20 points, most of it coming from the three-point line as he went 4-7 from that distance against the Gamecocks with Senior Julian Mackey following with 14 points.
Following the team’s defeat against Jacksonville State, head coach Ballard said at a press conference, “We made poor decisions over dribbling the ball and just not getting stops in the second half.”
The Panthers have 10 games remaining to improve their record and conference standing, as they sit 10th out of 12 teams.
With a 1-7 away record, the matchup against Middle Tenneesse could prove to be decisive in the team’s pursuit for the conference tournament.
Final Thoughts:
It seems when it comes to vital and important minutes where FIU is up by a large lead in the first half, it can sometimes lose sight of the result. This is similar to when they faced Kennesaw State and Liberty where they had a close lead and when it came to those last couple of minutes in the second half, FIU just does not get the chance to secure a victory in those critical moments. It is the most challenging task when it comes to close intense games and if not done right can result in a hurting loss. However, FIU has the chance for redemption against the long rival, Middle Tennessee, that has been faced many times to turn the tide of the last two months of the season.
Score Prediction:
FIU Panthers – 85
MTSU Blue Raiders – 78
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