MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (Dec. 29, 2011) - Despite three Panthers scoring in double-figures, the FIU men's basketball team (3-10, 0-1 SBC) fell to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (12-2, 1-0 SBC), 71-66, on Thursday, Dec. 29, at the Murphy Center.

Sophomore Phil Taylor led all scorers with 22 points; his third 20-point performance of the season and second of his career versus Middle Tennessee. The Marietta, Ga., native shot 8-of-14 from the floor, including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. Taylor also led the Panthers with three assists. Sophomore Dominique Ferguson notched his first double-double of the season, scoring 14 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. The 6-foot-9 forward also blocked two shots and recorded a season-high two steals. Senior Jeremy Allen scored 17 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line. Allen registered two steals versus the Blue Raiders to increase his team-leading total for steals this season to 38.

For the game, FIU shot 51.0 percent (25-of-49) from the floor, while holding the Blue Raiders to 40.0 percent from the field (20-of-50). The Panthers also held Middle Tennessee to just 20.0 percent from beyond the arc (4-of-20) as FIU drained 6-of-13 from downtown.

The most glaring statistic of the game was each team's free-throw percentage. Middle Tennessee registered 27 points from the free-throw line, shooting 64.3 percent (27-of-42). FIU shot a season-low 43.5 percent from the free-throw line, draining 10-of-23 attempts.

The Panthers trailed 38-33 heading into halftime, shooting 50.0 percent (14-of-28) from the field and 2-of-7 from the free-throw line. The Blue Raiders shot 10-of-24 from the floor in the first 20 minutes. However, Middle Tennessee scored 15 points from the free-throw line (15-of-22) to take a five-point lead heading into the break.

Middle Tennessee held a slight edge in the rebounding category, 34-33, and scored 20 points off of 16 FIU turnovers.

J.T. Sulton led the Blue Raiders with 17 points, followed by Shawn Jones, who posted 15.

The loss marked the fourth-straight for the Panthers, who open conference play with a 0-1 record. 

FIU will travel to Bowling Green, Ky., to face the WKU Hilltoppers on Saturday, Dec. 31. Game time is 2:00 p.m. ET.