MIAMI — FIU's men's basketball program will be leaving the Sunshine State for the first time in 2023-24 for a non-conference matchup at Houston Christian in Houston, Texas on Wednesday Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. ET.
The Panthers (0-3) took No. 12 Miami to the wire in their inter-city battle on Monday, but feel 86-80 to the Hurricanes. FIU will look to build on its best performance of the young season in the Lone Star State as it will face off with the Huskies for the second consecutive season.
FIU used a furious second-half scoring run last season to defeat HCU at home 77-66, outscoring the Huskies 45-25 in the final 20 minutes. The Panthers hope to make it 2-for-2 in the win column while the Huskies are looking to exact some revenge on their home court.
Head Coach Jeremy Ballard's squad continues to be led by do-it-all point guard Arturo Dean, who poured in 19 points and added six assists, five rebounds and two steals in the narrow defeat to UM. Dashon Gittens also had his best outing thus far with 14 points on 6-for-14 shooting from the field. The backcourt combo of Gittens and Dean are averaging a combined 22.7 points.
Dean had his breakout game immediately as a freshman coming off the bench in last season's home opener against Houston Christian, scoring 19 points while grabbing six rebounds and five steals.
SCOUTING HCU
The Huskies (0-1), out of the Southland Conference, opened their season at BYU and were defeated 110-63 in Provo. Marcus Greene led the scoring effort for HCU with 18 points in 33 minutes of action.
Houston Christian also had Jay Alvarez and Michael Imariagbe in double-figures with 11 points each. In last season's matchup, Brycen Long was a major factor with 28 points, but Long has since left for Arizona State for his senior season.
