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| Twenty six years ago this weekend, Georgetown and Florida International met for the first time, a 78-52 Georgetown win. Much has changed in the intervening years at FIU, which has doubled in enrollment to 50,000 students, ditched its former name of the Sunblazers for the more fearsome sounding Golden Panthers, and upgraded to I-A football as a member of Conference USA. Basketball was a tough sell that weekend in 1987, with the #18 Hoyas playing before just 3,087 in attendance at the commuter school; this past week, defending national champion Louisville drew just 3,361. The move to Conference USA has raised the expectations for FIU basketball, and growing pains are much in evidence for first year coach Anthony Evans, formerly of Norfolk State. The Panthers defeated former Georgetown nemesis Florida Gulf Coast, but surprisingly fell to Division II Nova Southeastern University by 18 at home. The Panthers were outmatched in its pre-Christmas meeting with Louisville, but a UofL transfer figures to be at the top of FIU's scoring charts Saturday. Georgetown fans may remember the name Rakeem Buckles, who played under Rick Pitino at Louisville through the 2011-12 season with mixed results, Transferring to FIU for his final year of eligibility, Buckles is taking a page out of Jerrelle Benimon's playbook to establish himself as a double-double threat in nearly every game so far this season. The 13 points and nine rebounds versus Louisville left Buckles one short of his 13th straight double-double in as many games this season. Buckles' 14.7 points and and 10.5 rebounds per game makes him a presence on both sides of the floor, but his size (6-7, 215) figures to be a tougher order against Georgetown's height up front. FIU's best offensive option to date has been 6-5 forward Tynell Murphy, relying on close in shots to average 61 percent from the field and 16.3 points per game this season. Three Panther starters enter the game averaging double figures, with 6-5 point guard Jason Boswell its best three point option. The Panthers shoot poorly from outside (32.6%) but have held opponents to 31.3% as well. Not so for Louisville, which torched the homestanding FIU defense for 13 threes in 24 attempts. The Panthers figure to stay close on the boards, ranking ninth nationally in rebounds with 40.8 per game. Good shooting takes care of rebounds, of course, but Georgetown's rebounding number have lagged this month and much will be expected from its front line to avoid the mistakes of its loss to Kansas and be more aggressive on defensive possessions. Keys To The Game:
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