GAME NOTES: The FIU Panthers and the Roadrunners of Texas-San Antonio get an early jump on play on Wednesday afternoon, as they battle in the first round of the 2015 Conference USA Tournament at Legacy Arena at the BJCC in Birmingham.

The seventh-seeded Roadrunners fumbled their way to the end of the 2014-15 regular season last Saturday, but managed to snap a five-game slide by taking out North Texas in the final home game, albeit by a scant 69-68 score. With the victory UTSA finished 8-10 in conference play, which had the squad tied with the Panthers, North Texas and Rice for seventh place in the standings.

As for the 10th-seeded Panthers, they actually had one more overall win than the Roadrunners, then again FIU played two more games during the non- conference portion of the campaign. The Panthers enter play on Wednesday with a bit of momentum, winning two in a row thanks to a 70-66 victory over UAB last weekend in Miami.

Both of these teams won their one and only Conference USA Tournament game last season. As far as an all-time series is concerned, UTSA is ahead by a 2-1 count thanks to a 74-63 victory in the latest tangle early last month.

The winner of this game will be back on the floor Thursday at the same time, taking on second-seeded UTEP in the quarterfinals.

The Panthers had two players start every game to this point and both of them were scoring in double figures as Dennis Mavin put up 17.1 ppg and Adrian Diaz another 13.1 ppg. The former shot under 28 percent behind the 3-point line and barely 64 percent at the charity stripe, but was still the primary go-to guy for point production when the Panthers needed it. He was also first with 95 assists, but was charged with 107 turnovers at the same time. As a unit, FIU had to deal with 120 more miscues (468) than dishes (348). which played a part in the group generating only 62.3 ppg. Diaz, who shot better from the floor than he did at the free-throw line, was also responsible for 7.0 rpg, when he wasn't fouling out of eight games.

Having four players scoring in double figures when the Roadrunners hit the floor against other members of the conference meant they had a solid chance at picking up a victory almost every time out. Providing considerable scoring punch was Jeromie Hill with his 17.0 ppg, to go along with 8.2 rpg, although his mere 64.5 percent effort at the charity stripe could use a boost. Keon Lewis tacked on 15.8 ppg during conference action, his 54 assists and 30 steals pacing the group in those two departments, while his 83.7 percent shooting at the free-throw line somewhat made up for Hill's deficiencies. Kaj- Bjorn Sherman (13.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg) was a pleasant surprise in the paint, while Ryan Bowie (10.9 ppg) sometimes did more harm than good with just 29.2 percent accuracy on the perimeter.

With Hill on their side the Roadrunners have a great offensive threat, but what makes UTSA more dangerous is the play of Sherman on the inside as well, which might be tough for the Panthers to handle.