Host Florida International rolled to an 85-66 win against Western Kentucky in Saturday’s Conference USA men’s basketball matchup at Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami.

With the loss to the Panthers, the Hilltoppers move to 10-5 overall for the season with a 1-1 mark in CUSA league play.

Freshman guard Julius Thedford led the Tops’ scoring effort for the second straight game with 18 points off 7-for-12 shooting from the field. Thedford and Tyrone Marshall Jr. each charted a team-high four rebounds, and Jalen Jackson led the team in assists with four while charting a game-high six steals.

Thedford opened scoring for the Tops with a free throw at the 18:51 mark of the first half. FIU responded with an 11-0 run as WKU went scoreless for over two minutes. Thedford broke the scoreless streak with a driving layup to bring the count to 11-3 with 16:23 left in the first. Khristian Lander connected on a floater to cut the margin further, but the Panthers responded with another 9-0 run to take a 15-point lead, 20-5, with 13:30 remaining until the half.

FIU expanded its lead over the Tops with a pair of made free throws, and WKU trailed FIU by 17, 26-9, with 9:55 to play in the first half. A driving layup by Enoch Kalambay and a made 3-pointer by Don McHenry cut into the FIU lead and brought the Tops to within 12, but the Panthers’ effective shooting from the field and from the free-throw line continued as the Hilltoppers fell behind by 19, 35-16, with 5:46 to play in the first.

A made 3-pointer by the Panthers pushed the Tops’ deficit to 24, 49-25, with two minutes to go before halftime. Lander and Marshall each accounted for two-point buckets, but another 3 by FIU made it a 23-point, 52-29 game entering the half.

“They were getting where they wanted to and getting the ball where they wanted to, and we were getting bumped off our spot and didn’t quite have the strength and the mental and physical wherewithal to execute and make the plays needed,” WKU coach Hank Plona said on his the Hilltopper Sports Network postgame radio show. “It’s the third straight game – every game since the break – that we’ve really just have come out with I don’t know, it just seems like half a step slow. That’s a physical, mental and team-oriented thing on both ends.”

Braxton Bayless tallied the first points of the second half for WKU with a made hook shot in the paint. FIU continued its strong shooting performance, taking a 27-point lead at the 16:48 mark of the second.

FIU maintained the 20+ point cushion for the majority of the second half. WKU managed to cut the Panther lead down to 18 off an 8-0 run ending at the 2:23 mark of the second, but the late push would not be enough as the Hilltoppers fell to the Panthers, 85-66.

Thedford led the Tops in scoring for the second straight game. The freshman also notched a team-best four rebounds, two steals, one assist and a block.

McHenry finished with 12 points, three assists, three steals, a pair of rebounds and two blocks.

FIU finished with a .50% (11-of-22) shooting clip from beyond the 3-point arc, while limiting the Tops to a 18.2% (4-of-22) clip. WKU charted 38.6% shooting from the field to FIU’s 46.6%.

The Tops led for just seven seconds of the game to the Panthers’ 38:51.

“This is humbling,” Plona said. “If this doesn’t make you want to get back on the court and get better for four or five days and perform better in front of our fans on Thursday night, then I don’t know what does.”

The loss moves the Tops’ all-time record facing the Panthers to 40-13 with a 15-9 record on the road in Miami.

WKU returns home and continues conference play hosting Jacksonville State on Thursday at E.A. Diddle Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. with ESPN+ set to broadcast the game.