BOCA RATON, FL – FIU Men’s Basketball is coming off a well-deserved bye week as players wrapped up their final exams for the fall semester.
However, after not playing since the second day of the month the Panthers will be to travel up I-95 to Boca Raton this Wednesday to take on their former C-USA rivals, the FAU Owls.
FIU and (Nationally Ranked) No. 11 FAU have gone on different trajectories over the last couple of seasons. While the Panthers are in somewhat of a transitioning period with a young but talented roster, the Owls are fresh off a Final Four appearance and only look to be getting better.
While head coaches of small programs typically leave for greener pastures after going on a tourney run, FAU head coach Dusty May went the opposite route, signing a 10-year contract extension worth $1.25 million and going up 5 percent for each year after that.
FAU’s top-four scorers from last season – guards Johnell Davis, Nick Boyd, and Alijah Martin, and forward Vladislav Goldin – are all back with the Owls this year.
The Owls already have a couple of résumé wins under their belt with wins against Butler and No. 12 Texas A&M in the ESPN Events Invitational.
“FAU is for sure the best team we will have played right now,” FIU head coach Jeremy Ballard said at the beginning of FIU’s bye week. “They’re playing great basketball right now. They play together, they embody what college basketball should be about: continuity, playing for each other, and depth.“
Tip-off is scheduled for 7pm on Wednesday, December 13th in Boca Raton and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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