FIU To Take On WKU In First Round Of CUSA Tournament

Following the conclusion of the 2024-25 men’s basketball regular season, it was announced that FIU will be taking on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in the first round of the Conference USA Championship. The game will take place on Tuesday, March 11th, at 9pm ET in Huntsville, Alabama.

The Panthers finished the season with a 9-22 overall record and 3-15 in conference play. This is two fewer wins than the previous year, and for the second straight season, the Panthers failed to win a conference road game.

As a team, FIU had the second-worst scoring offense in CUSA, averaging 69.8 points per game. The Panther defense was seventh in the conference, allowing 72.7 points per game. The Panthers were also the worst three-point shooting team in the conference, shooting 28% from beyond the arc

After being one of the worst rebounding teams in the country, FIU improved a couple of spots to rank eighth in combined team rebounds among CUSA teams, with 35 rebounds per game. In their recent road loss to Western Kentucky, they outrebounded them 40-27.

Junior guard Jayden Brewer led FIU with 14.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. He finished eighth amongst the conference in ppg.

Salatchoum led the Panthers with 53 blocks on the season. He finished second in the conference behind Louisiana Tech’s Daniel Batcho.

When the Panthers faced the Hilltoppers back on Saturday, January 4th, FIU won by a final score of 85-66. FIU recently traveled to Bowling Green to face WKU but lost by a final score of 76-67.

Last season, FIU was able to defeat Jacksonville State in the opening round of the Conference USA tournament but fell to Sam Houston in the following round. If the Panthers were to beat WKU, they would face Jax State on March 12th.