Paws Up Preview – FIU MBB vs Liberty

Date: Thursday, January 18th

Time: 7PM EST

Opponent: Liberty Flames (11-7)

Location: Lynchburg, Virginia (Liberty Arena)

TV: ESPN+

Betting Line: Liberty -12.5

Following a 16-point comeback win against the UTEP Miners, the FIU Panthers have hit the road and will be taking on the Liberty Flames who are currently on a three-game losing skid.

The Flames, who have an 11-7 overall record this season, have lost the first three conference games that they’ve played, most recently on Sunday against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs to a final score of 80-76 in overtime.

The last time the Flames took on the Panthers was their homecoming game but for football. This will mark the first time that both teams will face off against each other on the hardwood.

Currently, the Panthers rank as the second-best offense in the conference, followed by the Flames. FIU being ranked second can be thanks to their 146-point performance against Trinity College. Despite that, FIU has managed to stay at the top.

Despite the Flames’ struggles thus far in the Conference USA portion of the season, they have an 11-7 record and are the second-best defense in Conference USA.

When it comes to overall team matchups, the Flames and Panthers don’t mesh well, at least on the FIU side of things. This season, Liberty ranks second amongst the conference in field goal percentage while the Panthers continue to give up the highest per game. The same goes for a three-point percentage.

This season, the Flames have struggled with second-chance opportunities, primarily due to the lack of offensive rebounds, ranking as the second-worst team in C-USA for that category. When it comes to overall rebounding, Liberty is fifth out of nine teams. The Panthers continue to rank dead last.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for FIU will be to force turnovers, something they have been able to do thanks to their speed. This season, the Flames have the least amount of turnovers amongst Conference USA, compared to the Panthers who have the most.

The Flames are at the top of the conference this season in turnover/assist ratio, whereas the Panthers rank third, so that is somewhat encouraging.

This season for the Flames, forward Kyle Rode has been leading the way with 13.4 points per game, 4.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and a 38.7% field goal percentage.

Along with Rode, the Flames have three more players averaging double-digits in points per game – Kaden Metheny, Zach Cleveland, and Brody Peebles.

For the Panthers, their last win against the UTEP Miners was the first time this season that they had achieved back-to-back wins and look to take that momentum to Lynchburg.

At the moment, guard Javaunte Hawkins currently leads the team with 12.7 points per game and is ranked within the top 20 highest three-point percentages in the nation at .439%.

Right behind Hawkins, Arturo Dean has seen a dip in offensive numbers due to teams going after Dean defensively, but as we all know, the sophomore guard takes a lot of pride in his defense and continues to lead all NCAA in steals per game at 4.0.

The status of Jonathan Aybar continues to be unknown. The Panthers’ starting power forward has been sidelined for the last two games due to a foot injury that has him in a boot and crutches.

Despite Aybar’s absence, head coach Jeremy Ballard has been relying on the trio of Mohamed Sanogo, Okechukwu Okeke, and Dante Wilcox to make up for the loss of Aybar.

On Saturday, Sanogo had his coming out party and ended the night with 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists.

After struggling for the last couple of games, Panthers sophomore guard Dashon Gittens has had back-to-back games where he is in the double digits of scoring and has been getting a grove.

Currently, ESPN gives Liberty a 93.5% chance to win on Thursday. Tip-off will be on Thursday, January 18 at 7:00pm from Lynchburg, Virginia. The game can be broadcast on ESPN+.