MIAMI (Feb. 11, 2012) --- Senior Jeremy Allen posted a career-high 29 points while registering his 1,000th-career point in a losing effort as the FIU men's basketball team (7-17, 4-8 SBC) lost to the Denver Pioneers (18-8, 8-5 SBC), 73-66, on Saturday, Feb. 11, at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

Scoring just 14 points in the first half on 6-of-18 shooting from the floor, FIU trailed by 24 points heading into the halftime break. However, the Panthers battled back in the second half to pull within three points as Allen converted three-straight free throws with 5:26 left in the game.

Denver responded with a 7-0 run to push its lead back to double-digits. The Pioneers maintained their lead to hand FIU its eighth-straight home loss and drop the Panthers to 4-8 in Sun Belt Conference play.

Allen led all scorers with 29 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor (2-of-6 from beyond the arc), while converting 13-of-15 from the free-throw line. The Detroit, Mich., native notched the 1000th point of his college career, making the first of two free throws with 18 minutes left in the game. Allen also notched a game-high four steals to increase his season total to 66.

Senior DeJuan Wright poured in 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting and fell one rebound short of a double-double, grabbing a team-high nine boards. Junior Cameron Bell recorded a career-high 12 points to go along with seven rebounds.

FIU finished the night shooting 41.2 percent from the floor (21-of-51) and was 17-of-21 from the free-throw line (81.0 percent). The Panthers were out-rebounded, 31-29, and committed 15 turnovers, resulting in 20 points for Denver.

The Pioneers, which shot 51.1 percent from the floor (24-of-47) and 44.0 percent from 3-point range (11-of-25), were led by Brett Olsen, who scored 19 points. Also scoring in double-figures for DU were Chris Udofia (17 points) and Brian Stafford (13 points).

FIU will next travel to Little Rock, Ark., to face the UALR Trojans on Thursday, Feb. 16. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on the Sun Belt Network (CSS - Comcast channel 63).

About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 17 different sports, and is a proud member of the Sun Belt Conference and an affiliate member of Conference USA (men's soccer). 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 46,000 students in two campus 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. FIU is a member of the Sun Belt Conference and has 400 student-athletes participating in 17 sports. In 2010 the Panthers won their first bowl game. For more information about FIU, visit www.fiu.edu.