Panthers Drop Second-Straight Road CUSA Game To Mo State

FIU Men’s Basketball entered their first-ever matchup against Missouri State looking for their first CUSA Road win of the season. In another close, back-and-forth contest, the Panthers ran out of gas late as the Bears would go on to win by a score of 79-71.

The Panthers dug themselves into an early hole, but came back and made it a close game at the half. However, they never actually took the lead back from the Bears, who found an answer for every run the Panthers attempted to make. If this game sounds familiar, it’s very similar to FIU’s loss last game to Jax State, also on the road.

No Success From Deep

For FIU, their inability to shoot from beyond the arc cost them in this game. At halftime, they were 1-9, which helped create a 15-0 run for the Bears. They would finish the game going 4-8 from three.

SUTTON WITH THE PUTBACK#ITALLCOUNTS pic.twitter.com/EYdcoG1Y1E

— Missouri State Basketball (@MoStateMBB) January 11, 2026

After leading by five coming out of halftime, the Bears opened the second half with a quick 9-0 run in the first two minutes to force an FIU timeout and set the tone for half #2. FIU’s three-point ability didn’t get much better, going 4-18. They also only hit four three-point shots against Jax State.

The Bears seemed to have an answer for every Panthers’ run, usually from long range. Hamed Oyalinks and Julian Mackey tried to create runs for FIU late, but longshots from Missouri State put an end to those.

On the positive side, five Panthers scored in double digits. Mackey led the way with 18, with Corey Stephenson dropping 12. Olayinka and Ashton Williamson registered 11 points each, and Eric Dibami added 10 more.

The loss drops FIU’s conference record to 2-3, and they still have yet to win a road game this season, going 0-5 so far. They’ll have one more chance to break that on this road trip against Kennesaw State on Wednesday, January 14th at 7pm.

(Visited 107 times, 1 visits today)