MIAMI — FIU's men's basketball program hosts Jacksonville State in Conference USA (CUSA) play on Saturday afternoon for its final home game of the 2025 season, of which will double as Senior Day.

The Panthers (9-19, 3-12 CUSA) take on the Gamecocks (19-10, 11-5 CUSA) at 2 p.m. inside the Ocean Bank Convocation Center. FIU will honor its 2025 Senior Class of Jonathan Aybar, Jaden Grant, Onyx Pastoriza, George Pridgett, Jr. and Dante Wilcox pregame along with several other graduating support staff members.

Saturday, March 1 vs. Jacksonville State

Time/Site: 2 p.m. ET | Ocean Bank Convocation

Series History: FIU leads 5-4 (Jax State leads 3-1 in CUSA era)

Last Meeting: JSU def. FIU, 71-67 (Jan. 30, 2025)

TV: ESPN+

FIU most recently defeated Kennesaw State convincingly on Thursday evening, downing the Owls 76-61 at home. The Panthers took command of the game in the first half, holding a 10-point lead at the break and finishing off the 15-point win with 10 consecutive free throw makes. 

Asim Jones and Dashon Gittens led the scoring with 15 points each, making a combined 17 free throws. As a team, FIU made a season-high 34 free throws on 41 attempts.

For his career, Aybar is now sitting at 981 points, 19 shy of 1,000 heading into his final home game as a Panther. With the win over KSU, head coach Jeremy Ballard is now at 97 career wins.

When JSU and FIU met back in late January, the Panthers and Gamecocks battled in a tightly-contested affair that resulted in a four-point home win for Jax State. Jayden Brewer scored a team-best 15 points while Vianney Salatchoum chipped in 14. Seniors Aybar and Wilcox were also in double-digits with 10 points each. 

SCOUTING THE GAMECOCKS

Jax State comes to Miami after a close defeat to Liberty, 59-55, its last time out. Jao Stuka led JSU with 14 points while Jaron Pierre, Jr. had 13. The Gamecocks trailed by 15 at the half, scoring just 16 first-half points, but mounted a furious comeback to close the game, climbing within three points with 24 seconds left. 

Pierre, Jr. leads Jax State with his 21.8 ppg, the most in CUSA and second-most nationally. Currently, JSU is second in the CUSA standings, a half game behind conference-leading Liberty with two more games remaining. 

Jax State is a strong rebounding team with 38.5 rebounds per game, second-most in CUSA and 36th-nationally. The Gamecocks are the top free throw shooting team in CUSA, shooting 76.9 percent from the charity stripe. 

SOCIAL MEDIA

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