MIAMI – FIU men's basketball standouts Brian Beard, Jr. (Rancho Cucamonga, California) and Osasumwen Osaghae (Miami, Florida) have been rewarded after impressive seasons with the Panthers. Beard, Jr. was named to the All-Conference USA Second Team and to the league's All-Defensive Team, while Osaghae joins his teammate as an All-Defensive selection, the conference announced Monday. The duo proved, this season, to be two of the most dangerous defensive threats in C-USA.
 
Beard, Jr., a senior guard, finished the regular season leading the team in scoring, averaging 17.4 points-per-contest, which is good enough for seventh in Conference USA. Earlier this season, Beard, Jr. became the seventh player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. He is also tops on the team, and second in C-USA, in assists, handing out 6.1 per-outing.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, Beard, Jr. has led the conference all season in steals, and has been among the nation's leaders in Division I, currently ranking third in steals-per-game (3.0) and total steals (93). He has registered five-or-more steals in a game six times this year. For the second-straight season, Beard, Jr. set the school's single-season steals mark, and moved into second place on FIU's all-time steals list with 183. 
 
Osaghae, a junior center, has been a dominating presence in the paint, on the defensive end of the floor, for the Panthers all season. The former walk-on leads the team and C-USA in blocked shots, averaging 3.0 rejections-per-game. He is also fifth in the nation in blocks-per-game and in total blocks (83). Osaghae has swatted four-or-more shots in a game this year nine times, including a career-high seven against Charlotte on Jan. 10. 
 
Osaghae is also sixth on the team in scoring, averaging 8.4 points-per-game, and leads the team in rebounding – and is third in Conference USA – grabbing 8.4 boards-per-outing. 
 
Beard, Jr. and Osaghae will lead FIU into the 2019 Air Force Reserve C-USA Basketball Championships presented by Baylor Scott & White Sports Performance Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, this week. The Panthers, seeded No. 7, begin play in the championships on Wednesday, March 13, when they take on the No. 10 seed North Texas at 9:30 p.m. ET. The winner faces the No. 2 seed, WKU, on Thursday at 9:30 p.m.
 
All four first round games on March 13, can be seen on ESPN+.
 
2018-19 C-USA MBB All-Conference Award Winners
All-Conference USA First Team
Jon Elmore, Marshall
Ahmad Caver, Old Dominion
B.J. Stith, Old Dominion
Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
Charles Bassey, WKU
 
All-Conference USA Second Team
Jon Davis, Charlotte
Brian Beard, Jr., FIU
Cortez Edwards, Southern Miss
Tyree Griffin, Southern Miss
Keaton Wallace, UTSA
 
All-Conference USA Third Team
Anthony Adger, Florida Atlantic
C.J. Burks, Marshall
Antonio Green, Middle Tennessee
Ryan Woolridge, North Texas
Zack Bryant, UAB
Taveion Hollingsworth, WKU
 
All-Freshman Team
Taevion Kinsey, Marshall
Umoja Gibson, North Texas
Chris Mullins, Rice
Efe Odigie, UTEP
Charles Bassey, WKU
 
All-Defensive Team
Brian Beard, Jr., FIU
Osasumwen Osaghae, FIU
Xavier Green, Old Dominion
Cortez Edwards, Southern Miss
Charles Bassey, WKU 
 
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