The Conference USA’s top team will be at home when the UAB Blazers (18-4) welcome the FIU Golden Panthers (11-11) to Bartow Arena. Action begins at 7:00 pm ET on Thursday, Feb. 4.
The Blazers enter this game hoping for similar success after edging Marshall 81-78 in their last matchup. Dirk Williams was the team’s leading scorer with 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting. The Golden Panthers, meanwhile, are feeling some disappointment after their 64-60 loss against Old Dominion in their last game. Adrian Diaz led the team in scoring with 21 points.
Daviyon Draper has been hot for the Golden Panthers, averaging 16.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.6 steals, 0.8 blocks, and 0.8 three-pointers over the past five games.
From an eFG% perspective, this will be a matchup of two heavyweights. The sharp-shooting offense of UAB is ranked 28th in the nation in that metric at 54.4%, while FIU is 32nd-best in the nation at making opponents miss (45.2%).
Notes
Ranked 44th, the UAB Blazers have an offensive rating of 113.0. The FIU Golden Panthers rank 142nd with a defensive rating of just 101.6.
The UAB Blazers average 69.3 possessions and 1.130 points per possession in games this season. The FIU Golden Panthers average fewer possessions with 67.2, as well as fewer points per possession with 1.068.
FIU has an average effective field goal percentage of 52.1%. UAB is a winning 4-2 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
The UAB Blazers average 19.0 three point attempts per game, and the FIU Golden Panthers attempt 16.0 per game. When going for at least 20 three pointers in a game this season, both teams have winning records; UAB is 9-3 and FIU is 2-1.
The UAB Blazers rank 21st with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.46, while the FIU Golden Panthers rank outside the top 100 (169th) with an A/TO of 1.05.
UAB, the 70th-ranked team in rebounding, register an average of 38.8 rebounds per game. FIU does worse, ranked 110th with 37.8.
FIU ranks 254th in offensive rebounds, while UAB ranks at 45th in defensive rebounds.
On average, FIU forces a turnover rate of 15.0%. When UAB turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has an exceptional 14-4 record.
