MIAMI — FIU's men's basketball program welcomes its first Conference USA (CUSA) foe to the Ocean Bank Convocation Center on Thursday evening, hosting New Mexico State at 7 p.m. ET.
The Panthers (5-11, 0-1 CUSA) look to bounce back after a 70-63 defeat to Jax State on the road in their CUSA opener. New Mexico State (7-9, 1-0 CUSA) defended its home floor in its CUSA lid-lifter, defeating UTEP 63-53 in Las Cruces.
FIU trailed by 18 points in the second half at Jax State before mounting a furious rally to cut the Jax State lead to just three with five minutes to go. Okechukwu Okeke played a big part in the Panthers' comeback, scoring all 12 of his points in the second half. Okeke has scored in double-digits in all three games that he has recorded 10 minutes or more.
FIU is 4-3 at home inside the OBCC and has held significant leads in 2-of-3 losses. The Panthers welcome a NMSU team that has yet to win a true road game, sporting an 0-6 record away from home.
The Panther backcourt of Arturo Dean and Javaunte Hawkins continues to pace FIU on both offense and defense. Hawkins' 40.2 percent from distance is second-best in CUSA and his 11.8 ppg are second for FIU behind Dean's 12.6 ppg.
Dean continues to shine in his sophomore season as the Panthers' leader in points, rebounds, assists and steals. He continues to lead the nation with his 66 overall steals and average of 4.1 steals per game. Dean also sits atop the CUSA rankings with his 75 total assists and ranks second in the conference with his 4.7 assists per game.
SCOUTING NM State
The Aggies are led by scoring duo Robert Carpenter and Christian Cook, whom are both averaging slightly-above 10 ppg on the season. Cook totaled a team-high 15 points in the win over UTEP, making 3-of-8 attempts from deep.
NMSU was strong defensively, holding UTEP to just 53 points and a 40.5 shooting percentage from the field. Jordan Rawls facilitates the Aggie attack with 4.4 assists per game, third-best in CUSA.
As was the case with the tilt at Jax State, this will be a matchup of one of the league's top offenses and the league's top defenses. FIU enters as CUSA's third-best offense, scoring 76.9 ppg while New Mexico State enters tied-second in CUSA in opponent field goal percentage, holding opponents to just 40.6 percent shooting on the season.
The Panthers are also yet to win a game this season scoring under 70 points. A fast-paced transition game will play to FIU's advantage while a slower-paced, half-court contest would, by the numbers, favor New Mexico State.
TICKETS
For more information on FIU tickets to FIU basketball home games, including student ticketing, call 305-FIU-GAME or visit the FIU Athletics Online Ticket Office.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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