Box Score BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (Dec. 27, 2012) – Despite double-figure scoring by three Panthers, the FIU men's basketball team (4-6, 1-2 SBC) fell to the WKU Hilltoppers (9-5, 3-0 SBC), 76-63, on Thursday evening at the E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky.

Junior Malik Smith led all Panthers with 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor. The Boston, Mass., native converted five treys for his second 20-point outing of the season. Junior Tymell Murphy added 14 points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds versus the Hilltoppers, while freshman Jerome Frink posted 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor for his sixth outing of 10-or-more points.

FIU finished the night shooting 46.0 percent (23-of-50) from the floor and converted 8-of-21 shots from the 3-point range (38.1 percent). WKU shot 54.3 percent from the field, made 9-of-22 shots from beyond the arc (40.9 percent) and was 17-of-21 from the free-throw line (81.0 percent). A 12-3 run by WKU midway through the second half gave the
Panthers a double-digit deficit that they were unable to overcome. 

After the first 20 minutes of action FIU entered halftime tied with the Hilltoppers, 33-33. The Panthers shot 48 percent from the floor and were led by Smith, who posted 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor.

For the game, WKU held a 29-26 edge in rebounding although FIU held a 10-7 advantage on the offensive glass. Both team's committed 13 turnovers, scored 26 points in the paint and produced nine second-chance points.

The loss drops FIU to 1-2 in conference play this season and moves the Panthers to 3-4 away from U.S. Century Bank Arena.

The Panthers will next head to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to continue Sun Belt Conference action as they face the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on Saturday, Dec. 29. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. ET.

Fans are encouraged to follow @FIUMensBBall on Twitter, and "Like" FIU men's basketball on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/FIU-Mens-Basketball) for the latest Panther basketball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelors, masters and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu