MIAMI, FL – The FIU Men’s Basketball team will return to the Ocean Bank Convocation Center tonight for the first time in the 2023-24 season.
The Panthers will take on the Tarleton State Texans at 7pm in what will be the first-ever matchup against each other in school history.
The Texans transitioned to the Division I level in 2020-21. Last season, they went 17-17 en route to the College Basketball Invitational for their first postseason berth as a D1 program.
While the Texans finished with a respectable .500 record, they were abysmal on the road, posting a 2-12 record in true road games. Their only true road wins were against UT Arlington and Utah Tech.
Freddy Hicks, Tarleton State’s lead scorer last year at 16.2 points per game, transferred to Arkansas State during the offseason.
Still, the Texans’ starting lineup will likely feature lots of experience. They started four seniors in their 80-50 opening night loss to the Virginia Cavaliers on Monday.
FIU, meanwhile, lost their opening game to the UCF Knights in Orlando on Monday, 85-62.
If the Panthers are going to have better success against the Texans, they’ll have to get production from sophomore Arturo Dean. The reigning Conference USA Freshman of the Year was held to two points on Monday’s opening night game, shooting 1-for-7 from the field and committing four turnovers.
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