HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Western Kentucky’s men’s basketball team soared a year ago in Rocket City.

Looking to recapture a bit of that magical Conference USA Tournament championship run from last season, this year’s Tops instead never got off the launch pad in a sluggish 64-61 loss to Florida International at VBC Propst Arena.

WKU (17-14) wasn’t a favorite to repeat as the CUSA tournament champion this year, but the No. 7 seed Hilltoppers weren’t expecting a first-round exit against the No. 10 seed FIU, either.

“Very tough offensive day for both halves for our team,” WKU coach Hank Plona said. “It seemed like we struggled to get the ball in the basket and that’s obviously a credit to FIU, their preparation, their players, their coaching staff. That’s the biggest offensive struggle we’ve had in a long time. Obviously we saw them five days ago and they made some adjustments that were very effective in the game.

“I have a senior-laden group. It’s obviously heart-breaking — we had a year full of ups and downs, and there’s been a lot of obstacles in the way and a lot of challenges. And these young men have worked very hard all year to continue to persevere, to continue to play with maximum effort and togetherness, and for that I could not be more proud. Obviously a tough day here but the cold, hard reality is most seasons do end with a tough defeat. We were hoping that was not going to be today, but unfortunately it was. Very proud of the fight that we showed and the togetherness that we played with — obviously we just need to have a different result.”

FIU (10-22) trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half as the Panthers were the colder shooting of two struggling offenses. Khristian Lander’s tip-in with 3:28 left in the first half pushed the Tops’ lead to 25-12 — the high-water mark, as it turned out.

The Panthers got a 3-pointer from Asim Jones — the first of the half, after a combined 20 misses from that range — with just more than a minute to go.  The Tops missed a 3 the other way, FIU got the ball downcourt in time for another Jones basket on a baseline jumper, then Jayden Brewer came up with a steal near midcourt before dashing a couple steps toward the 3-point arc and banking in a buzzer-beater that set the halftime score at 27-22 — an 8-0 run for the Panthers that took just 1:01.

“We really weren’t thinking about it,” WKU graduate senior forward Tyrone Marshall Jr. said of that FIU run. “We were just thinking about going out in the second half and coming out strong in the first four minutes.”

The Tops were solid out of the break, reeling off a 7-2 spurt to regain that double-digit lead at 34-24 after McHenry hit a free throw.

FIU answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Ashton Williamson and Jaden Grant before Vianney Salatchoumn’s offensive putback capped the 8-0 run.

The Panthers took their first lead since the opening minute on a pair of made free throws by Brewer that pushed FIU out front 43-42 with 8:59 to go.

The Tops reclaimed that lead at 52-50 on a Blaise Keita layup with 4:35 to play — the last lead for WKU, although the Tops did tie the game twice after falling behind again.

Jones punished the Tops at the free-throw line over the final minute, hitting six straight to push FIU’s lead to 61-55 with just 16 seconds to play.

Somehow, WKU wasn’t done — McHenry hit a 3-pointer — the only one for WKU in a 1-for-18 performance from that range — and drew a foul, with his made free throw producing a four-point play that had the Tops back within two points at 61-59 with nine seconds to play.

FIU hit a free throw on its next possession, but graduate guard Braxton Bayless hit a pair of free throws the other way after the Panthers fouled before WKU could try a potential game-tying 3-pointer. With just 6.6 seconds to go, the Tops had to foul and Ashton Williamson hit both to make it a three-point game — still time to force a tie, but McHenry’s hurried 3 fell short and the Panthers cleared the ball from the lane for the win.

Bayless led WKU with 12 points on a tough shooting night. The Tops were 23-of-64 overall (35.9%), but made just the one 3 while the Panthers downed four and also built a sizeable advantage at the free-throw line by hitting 24-of-32. WKU was just 14-of-20 from the line.

Enoch Kalambay added 11 points off the bench, and Marshall had eight points and eight rebounds.

Plona, in his first year as head coach after being elevated following Steve Lutz’s departure to become the head coach at Oklahoma State, assembled one of the nation’s most veteran rosters. But injuries took a toll for WKU, which lost several key performers along the way. Picked to finish second in the CUSA coaches’ preseason poll, the weight of expectations was always there for the Tops.

“These guys were very aware that going into the season, I think the purpose of bringing the team back was to try to get back to the NCAA Tournament,” Plona said. “And I think that kind of maybe weighed on us all year, especially as the injuries depleted our depth a little bit.”