HUNTSVILLE, Texas — FIU's men's basketball program begins its penultimate Conference USA (CUSA) road trip with a matchup at Sam Houston State at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday evening.
The Panthers (8-16, 3-6 CUSA) are in search of the season sweep of the Bearkats (13-11, 6-3 CUSA) after defeating SHSU at home 68-61 on Feb. 3. Sam Houston is currently tied-first with La Tech in the CUSA standings while FIU is tied-last with Middle Tennessee heading into the final seven regular season games of the CUSA slate.
FIU erased a 10-point halftime deficit in its victory over the Bearkats, outscoring Sam Houston 42-25 in the final 20 minutes. Petar Krivokapic made his presence felt offensively with a game-high 18 points, which included five made three-pointers.
Javaunte Hawkins also turned in a solid performance against Sam Houston with 11 points and nine assists. The Panthers secured the win despite being out rebounded 53-33.
For FIU, Arturo Dean still leads the NCAA with his 83 steals and his average of 3.61 steals per game. Dean is on pace to break the single-season record at FIU, of which is held by Brian Beard, who racked up 101 total steals in 2018-19.
SCOUTING SAM HOUSTON
Sam Houston is a perfect 4-0 at home in CUSA play, but have lost back-to-back conference games after a 6-1 start. The Bearkats fell to both FIU and Jacksonville State in their last two contests.
Lamar Wilkerson and Davon Barnes led the Bearkat offense as the sixth-best and seventh-best scorers in CUSA, respectively. As a team, Sam Houston is the conference's top free throw shooting side, averaging 71.2 percent from the line.
The Bearkats also have had success on the offensive glass, averaging a league best 12.3 offensive rebounds per game.