MIAMI — FIU's men's basketball program has its second-consecutive road contest in Conference USA (CUSA) play on Thursday, taking on Western Kentucky in Bowling Green, K.Y. at 8 p.m. ET.
The Panthers (7-12, 2-2 CUSA) are in search of their first CUSA road victory after defeats at Jax State and, most recently, Liberty, to start their 2024 league campaign. WKU (13-6, 2-3 CUSA) has also yet to win a road contest, but, like the Panthers, is 2-0 at home entering tilt. The Hilltoppers are coming off back-to-back defeats to New Mexico State and UTEP on the road.
Both teams are yet to win on the road in CUSA action. So far, CUSA teams have generally struggled in road matchups as home teams are 15-4 in conference action.
In FIU's last game at Liberty, the Panthers cut a large second-half deficit to just four points with 6:54 remaining, but the Flames held off FIU in the final stages to secure a 78-69 win. For WKU, the Hilltoppers were narrowly edged out by UTEP in a game that featured nine lead changes with UTEP winning 93-87. WKU is yet to lose at home this season, sporting an 8-0 record inside E.A. Diddle Arena.
Statistically, this will be a matchup of two of the league's top offenses as Western Kentucky averages a CUSA-best 79.3 ppg while FIU averages 76.3 ppg, third-best in CUSA. On the defensive end, WKU and FIU rank eighth and ninth, respectively, in opponent points per game.
Fans can expect a high-scoring matchup between two evenly-matched sides. FIU is 7-2 in games in which the Panthers have scored 72 or more points and 0-10 when not reaching the 72-point threshold.
One theme to watch will be in the rebounding area where WKU ranks first in CUSA with 40.6 team rebounds per game while FIU sits eighth with just 32.9 rpg.
