GAME NOTES: The FIU Golden Panthers aim for their second three-game win streak of the season as they take on the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in Conference USA action on Thursday night.

The Panthers, who opened the 2014-15 campaign with consecutive wins over Florida College, Stetson and Florida Memorial, have won a total of just five games since. FIU closed out the 2014 portion of the schedule with a 76-55 win over Florida A&M, and then kicked off 2015 with a narrow 62-60 triumph over Florida Atlantic in the C-USA opener this past Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Blue Raiders find themselves breaking even after the first 14 games. However, Middle Tennessee is suffering from a two-game slide after bowing to Auburn near the end of the last year, 64-48, and then beginning the new year with a 54-49 setback to UAB at home over the weekend.

Middle Tennessee leads the all-time series by a margin of 24-7. Last season, the Golden Panthers fell at home to the Blue Raiders by a score of 70-68 in Miami.

The Panthers didn't have it easy against FAU in the most recent outing, but eventually the visitors got what they came for, a conference victory. As a result, FIU is now a perfect 6-0 this season against other schools from the Sunshine State. Adrian Diaz registered his second career double-double with 27 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 11-of-14 from the floor while also blocking five shots. Dennis Maven contributed 16 points and handed out six of the team's seven assists.

Mavin and Diaz are the only players to have started all 14 games for the Panthers, which explains why they are also the only double-digit scorers for the program with 16.1 and 14.1 ppg, respectively. Mavin, who is shooting less than 23 percent beyond the arc and barely 60 percent at the free-throw line, checks in with a team-best 42 assists, while Diaz handles the action in the paint with 6.9 rpg and 28 blocks.

If the Blue Raiders thought converting just nine field goals in the first half against UAB was weak, the team definitely wasn't ready for the final 20 minutes of action during which it connected on a total of only five baskets, en route to the five-point loss. Jaqawn Raymond scored a team-best 14 points, hitting 3-of-5 shots behind the 3-point line, but he was also guilty of five turnovers. Giddy Potts dropped in 12 points off the bench, hitting just 3- of-11 from the field.

Jacquez Rozier, who tallied just five points and seven rebounds before fouling out in the loss to the Blazers, is the top overall scorer for the Blue Raiders this season with a meager 9.0 ppg. Reggie Upshaw checks in with 8.6 ppg and a team-best 6.2 rpg for a program that is generating only 58.4 ppg based on 38 percent shooting from the floor.

Without a single double-digit scorer that they can put their faith in from one night to the next, the Blue Raiders are lucky to be winning games at this point. The Panthers aren't exactly offensive juggernauts, but they do bring enough scoring to the table in order to finish on top in this meeting.