Box Score MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (Dec. 29, 2012) – The FIU men's basketball team (4-7, 1-3 SBC) suffered a 69-52 loss to Middle Tennessee (10-3, 2-0 SBC) on Saturday evening at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

The Panthers struggled offensively to start the game, missing their first eight shots while shooting 1-of-10 through the first nine minutes, resulting in a 14-3 lead for the Blue Raiders. Falling behind by as many as 14 points in the first half, FIU chipped away at the Middle Tennessee lead to enter halftime down 28-21. The Panthers shot 33.3 percent
from the floor (8-of-24) in the first 20 minutes, led by junior Malik Smith who had six points on 2-of-5 shooting for the half.

FIU came out in the second half and cut the Blue Raiders' lead to 28-25, following a pair of layups by junior Tymell Murphy. However, a 7-2 run by MT extended its lead to double-digits at 37-27 after a dunk by Neiko Hunter with 15:14 left in the game. The deficit proved to be too much for the Panthers to overcome as FIU fell, 69-52.

Freshman Jerome Frink registered his third double-double of the season, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Murphy ended the game with a team-high 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. Smith rounded out the double-figure scoring with 10 points.

For the game, FIU shot 38.8 percent (19-of-49) from the floor and 31.3 percent (5-of-16) from 3-point range. The Panthers also converted 9-of-15 from the free-throw line. Middle Tennessee finished the night shooting 43.4 percent from the field and was led by Shawn Jones, who posted 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

MT held a 43-27 advantage in rebounding, including a 15-6 edge on the offensive glass. The Panthers out-scored the Blue Raiders 22-20 in the paint, while Middle Tennessee scored 10 second-chance points compared to zero for FIU.

The loss drops FIU to 1-3 in conference play and increases the Panthers' current losing streak to the Blue Raiders to seven games. The loss also ends a month-long, six-game road swing in which the Panthers went 2-4.

FIU will next return home to host the Florida A&M Rattlers at U.S. Century Bank Arena on Wednesday, Jan 2. Game time is set for 7:00 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 Instagram (FIUathletics).

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/.