Owls Close Regular Season With Home-and-Home vs. FIU


What: Florida Atlantic (16-13, 9-7) vs. Florida International (15-14, 5-11)

When: Thursday, March 3rd, @ 7:00 PM
            Saturday, March 5th, @ 2:00 PM

Where: Ocean Bank Convocation Center | The Burrow - Abessinio Court at FAU Arena

Series: The Panthers hold a 28-21 advantage over FAU, although the Owls have won two straight.


Stream: ESPN+

Radio Both Games: FoxSports 640

Live Stats Both Games: Here


FIU Team Site: Here


Panthers at a Glance

Offense - 71.6 PPG, 43% FG, 35% 3PT

Defense - 70.5 PPGA, 43% FGA, 33% 3PTA

Rebounding - 35.5 RPG Panthers, 36.3 RPG Opponents


Panther Notables

FIU will look to snap their two-game skid following a pair of embarrassing losses. Last time out, the Panthers were blown-out by Old Dominion 83-63. Senior Eric Lovett lead FIU in scoring with 12 points.

Just days before the defeat at the hands of the Monarchs, FIU was undone by Charlotte 64-55. The pair of losses means that the Panthers ended February with a 3-5 mark during the month. The three wins were against teams that are below .500 in conference play: Southern Miss, Marshall, and Rice. Panthers won those gams by 11, 1, and 2, respectively.

FIU's leading scorer, Junior Guard Tevin Brewer, left the ODU game 8 minutes into the contest with a lower leg injury. His status is unknown going into the first game of the home-and-home series. His 14.9 PPG is made possible by an impressive 39% 3FG, also a team-high with a minimum of 85 attempts.

As a team, the Panthers are bang-average. They are neither in the top nor bottom three of C-USA in any major statistical area. The one state that does stand out is their 3FG attempts of 813. That paces the conference and places FIU 17th nationally. Despite the excitement to pull the trigger along the arc, the Panthers sit at 8th place in the league and 130th nationally in 3FG%.


FAU at a Glance

Offense - 73.8 PPG, 45% FG, 36% 3PT

Defense - 68.1 PPGA, 35% FGA, 36% 3PTA

Rebounding - 36.5 RPG Owls, 31.9 RPG Opponents


Owl Notables

The Owls finally shook off their losing streak with a solid 74-69 victory over Charlotte. That conference win, the ninth this season, set a new program record since the Owls joined C-USA in 2013.

The win came at the perfect time. Paired with Western Kentucky's loss to Middle Tennessee, the Owls are again tied for second place in C-USA's East Division. Unfortunately for the Owls, WKU's final two games of the regular season come against the woeful Marshall Thundering Herd. Whoever claims the East's second seed will be awarded with a bye in the first round of the conference tournament.

Therefore, Dusty May's Owls cannot afford to slip up as the conference tournament nears. The fight for seeding adds an extra bit of juice to an already exciting rivalry.

"I would expect our guys to play extremely hard for a number of reasons and obviously it being a rivalry, these games have been very competitive… and there's a lot of stake for both programs going forward," May said in the weekly conference with media.



In terms of the rivalry, the Panthers 28-21 edge fails to paint a total picture. The Owls swept their rivals to the south last season, which includes a 107-63 thumping last Spring.

Guards Michael Forrest and Alijah Martin continue to go one-two in leading the team in scoring with 13.7 and 13.5 PPG, respectively. They're now the lone Owls averaging double digits. Martin still paces the club in RPG (5.3), steals (1.6) and 3FG% (.40)

A win on Thursday would secure FAU's fourth-straight winning season. Dusty May became the first coach in the program's Division I history to have three-straight wining seasons last year. Tim Loomis coached three-straight winning seasons when the Owls were in Division II.


Latest Lines: @ FIU - FAU -4
                      vs FIU - TBA


Additional Links:

2021-2022 FAU Basketball Schedule - FAU Owl's Nest

FAU vs FIU Part 1 is set to tip 18.4 miles from the ⛱️

Here are your Starters for Florida Atlantic:

G Greenlee
G Forrest
G Martin
G Winchester
F Goldin

Go Owls! 🦉🏀🦉

12:20 1st:

FAU 10  FIU 0

The Panthers are yet to score!

9:42 1st FAU 12  FIU 8

Panthers rattle off an 8-0 run.

Martin 5 PTS, Davis 3PTS for the Owls at the midway point.

Go Owls 🦉🏀🦉

Scoring drought of 3:26 for FAU as the Panthers tie it up with 4:32 to play in the first half.

Neither team is shooting well at 30%, and 28% respectively but the Owls have 11 turnovers.

HALFTIME: FAU 22  FIU 21

The Owls sees the Panthers edge out in front for a spell, but a Greenlee 3 down the stretch has them up at intermission in what is a low scoring affair so far.  🦉🏀🦉

STATS AT THE HALF:  FAU 22  FIU 21

Owls with a 31% - 23% FG edge but also 12 turnovers. Helping Florida Atlantic is a 20-15 margin off the glass.

Martin with a Team High 7 PTS, Martin and Goldin 4 PTS ea.  🦉🏀🦉

15:55 2nd:

FAU 31  FIU 26

The Owls start the 2nd half with a 9-5 run, as we hit the first media break.

Winchester with 2 FT's and jumper is followed by Martin's fast break triple.

13:18 FAU 41  FIU 26

Weatherspoon with a DRIP 3 that caps a 10-0 Owl run and the Panthers call time!

🦉🏀🦉

🗣️BLOW IT OPEN

Owls up 52-33 over that team 18.4 miles from the ⛱️

8:24 2nd…

Go Owls 🦉🏀🦉