WALDRON GRAIN & FUEL

01/01 03:43 CST Florida International hosts New Mexico State following Dibami's 21-point showing Florida International hosts New Mexico State following Dibami's 21-point showing By The Associated Press New Mexico State Aggies (8-3, 1-0 CUSA) at Florida International Panthers (7-5, 0-1 CUSA) Miami; Friday, 12 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Florida International plays New Mexico State after Eric Dibami scored 21 points in Florida International's 97-94 overtime loss to the Liberty Flames. The Panthers have gone 7-2 at home. Florida International is second in the CUSA with 18.2 assists per game led by Zawdie Jackson averaging 3.5. The Aggies have gone 1-0 against CUSA opponents. New Mexico State is sixth in the CUSA with 35.5 rebounds per game led by Julius Mims averaging 6.9. Florida International makes 47.0% of its shots from the field this season, which is 9.8 percentage points higher than New Mexico State has allowed to its opponents (37.2%). New Mexico State averages 7.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.9 fewer made shots on average than the 9.2 per game Florida International allows. The matchup Friday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play. TOP PERFORMERS: Corey Stephenson is shooting 50.0% and averaging 18.0 points for the Panthers. Brit Harris is averaging 1.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games. Jemel Jones is scoring 16.0 points per game with 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists for the Aggies. Jayland Randall is averaging 9.6 points over the last 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 6-4, averaging 89.0 points, 34.8 rebounds, 18.5 assists, 10.3 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 47.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 81.1 points per game. Aggies: 7-3, averaging 77.0 points, 34.9 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 7.7 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 44.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.9 points. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.