Christopher Rodriguez | Staff Writer
Finishing out the regular season with a win against #3 Conference USA ranked Western Kentucky, the FIU Panthers have made the CUSA tournament.
This year’s tournament will be hosted at Propst Arena inHuntsville, Alabama. FIU will face the #9 ranked Missouri State Bears on Tuesday, March 10 as their matchup of the tournament.
In last year’s 2025 Conference USA tournament, FIU competed as a #10 seed and defeated Western Kentucky in the first round, but lost to Jacksonville State in the second round.
Jayden Brewer was the top scorer for FIU during the tournament, with 17 points against Western Kentucky and 18 points against Jacksonville State.
Vianney Salatchoum was FIU’s top rebounder in the 2025 tournament , with 10 rebounds against Western Kentucky and only 5 against Jacksonville State.
FIU has faced off against Missouri State twice this season.
First on January 10, when the Bears defeated the Panthers 79-71 in Springfield, Missouri. The second time being on February 21 where FIU defeated Missouri State 70-67 at home in the Ocean Bank Convocation Center.
In their win against Missouri State, Senior Corey Stephenson delivered a final minute three point shot with 3.5 seconds left. The game leaders in major statistics were Julian Mackey with 22 points and Hamed “Larry” Olayinka with 8 total rebounds.
Missouri State and Florida International are both 3-10 in away games, with both having their three wins from conference rivals.
Final Thoughts:
If FIU can keep playing into their strengths and continue to dominate the paint they might have a chance in this game. This will be on neutral ground, so anything can happen. Especially when both teams are mediocre in away games. This will be a brand new slate for the Panthers, but after a win against #3 ranked Western Kentucky, it leaves a very strong first impression for this turnaround. As Coach Ballard has said, “our tournament play started today after beating Western Kentucky”.
2026 Conference USA Tournament Bracket
Score Prediction:
FIU Panthers – 68
Missouri State Bears – 67
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