By Brett Shweky/Editor
Following their fourth consecutive victory, the FIU Panthers are set to travel to Huntington, WV to square off against the Marshall Thundering Herd in their closing
During the teams’ last matchup on Saturday, Jan. 19, the Thundering Herd (16-13, 9-7 Conference USA) made easy work of the Panthers (18-11, 9-7 C-USA) as they reeled in a 105-97 win at the Cam Henderson Center.
“This a chance for us to go make up for one our losses on the road last time,” said FIU head coach Jeremy Ballard on the previous matchup against Marshall. “I thought we did a lot of good things in that game, but I feel we’re a much better team now. We’re much better on the defensive end. We’re much more solid on the offensive end.”
With the win, FIU will secure their 19th victory of the season which would be the third most wins in program history since moving to Division I.
Last time out for FIU
The Panthers, who will be aiming to extend their winning streak to a season-high five in a row, are fresh off an 83-76 home victory over Louisiana Tech on Sunday, March 3.
Devon Andrews fueled the way for the team with him scoring 14 of his game-high 21 points in the second half.
“What I’m seeing is nobody is being selfish,” Devon Andrews said following the Panthers’ win over the Bulldogs. “Everybody is moving the ball around. No one is caring about scoring, and when we play like that, we could go on runs.”
Brian Beard Jr. finished the game second in scoring with 13 points while he also collected seven assists and four rebounds.
In addition to his successful outing, Beard Jr. became the seventh player in the history of the program to reach 1,000 career points. Beard Jr. needed just one point to meet the mark after coming into the matchup with 999 career points.
The senior point guard averages 17.5 points-per-game for the Panthers and also places third in the nation in steals-per-game with 3.1.
Osasumwen Osaghae was instrumental in the paint for the Panthers in their last game as he recorded 11 rebounds and five blocks in the contest.
The six-foot-seven junior out of Miami, FL ranks third in the conference in rebounds-per-game (8.2).
Scouting report for Marshall
For Marshall, the team is riding a winning streak of their own after picking up three straight victories in a row.
The Thundering Herd edged North Texas 85-82 in their previous outing following 20-point performances from C.J. Burks and Jon Elmore.
Elmore leads the team in scoring with 20.1 points-per-game which is good enough to place him fourth in the conference in the category. Burks places eighth in the league in points-per-game with 17.4.
“We already know what that is going to be,” Ballard said on his expectations for the Thundering Herd. “They want to run fast. We run fast. So it’s going to be a track meet, but we got to be more solid in terms of what we do defensively.”
Marshall ranks second in the conference in points-per-game (79.7) while FIU (84.0 ppg) places first.
The Panthers trail the Thundering Herd 7-1 in the all-time series.
Next on the schedule for FIU
FIU will play their regular season home finale on Saturday, March 9 against the North Texas Mean Green at 7 p.m.
After their matchup against North Texas, the Panthers will then travel to Frisco, TX to participate in this season’s Conference USA Championship Tournament. The postseason tournament will run from March 13 to March 16.
