GAME NOTES: The FIU Golden Panthers cap off a tough eight-game road trip Saturday when they play the UAB Blazers at Bartow Arena in Conference USA action.

The Owls have gone 3-4 during the first seven games of the trek, including a 65-52 loss to Middle Tennessee on Thursday to drop to 1-1 in Conference USA play. Dennis Mavin scored a career-high 31 points to lead FIU, which saw a two-game win streak come to an end.

FIU trailed by 13 points at the break and never mounted much of a comeback in the second half. Middle Tennessee owned a 32-16 advantage in points in the paint, and the Raiders' bench outscored FIU's bench, 35-2, in the win.

Mavin and Adrian Diaz are the only players to have started all 15 games for the Panthers, which explains why they are also the only double-digit scorers for the program with 17.1 and 13.7 ppg, respectively. Mavin, who is shooting 28 percent beyond the arc and 61 percent at the free-throw line, checks in with a team-best 42 assists, while Diaz handles the action in the paint with 6.6 rpg and 28 blocks.

The Blazers, meanwhile, are 2-0 in conference action following a 66-57 victory over Florida Atlantic on Thursday. Robert Brown and Tosin Mehinti both scored 13 points, Hakeem Baxter added 10 points and six rebounds, and William Lee contributed with 11 rebounds in the win, which ended a three-game losing streak.

Florida Atlantic was actually ahead by one down the stretch but went the final 3:23 without scoring. UAB scored the game's final 10 points as FAU missed its last seven shots.

Brown, a 41.4 percent shooter from the floor who is just 30.4 percent accurate beyond the arc, is the lone double-digit scorer for the Blazers with his 13.3 ppg. C.J. Washington and his 34.9 percent accuracy from the field, accounts for 9.0 ppg and he is first on the team with 4.6 rpg, but obviously if that is the best that the UAB roster can muster on the glass, it should not come as a surprise that the Blazers are more often than not yielding to opponents in the paint.

The Panthers won the only previous game between the two schools, 78-73, last season in Miami. They have gone 39 days since playing a home game, and they would like nothing more than to end this lengthy trip on a winning note.