Box Score LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Jan. 12, 2013) – The FIU men's basketball team (8-8, 3-4 SBC) suffered an 88-76 loss to the UALR Trojans (11-8, 5-3 SBC) on Saturday afternoon at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Ark. A rough first half put FIU in a 15-point hole as the Panthers shot 36.0 percent from the floor while the Trojans drained 66.7 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of action.
Despite recording a perfect 12-of-12 from the free-throw line and shooting 6-of-12 from 3-point range during the first stanza, FIU could not overcome UALR's 20-of-22 shooting from the charity stripe and 14-of-21 from the floor.
FIU out-scored the Trojans 40-37 in the final 20 minute, but it was not enough to overcome the 51-36 deficit that the Panthers faced after halftime.
Six Panthers reached double-figures in scoring led by junior
Malik Smith, who posted 14 points. Senior
Cameron Bell posted a career-high 13 points highlighted by an 8-of-9 performance from the line. Freshman
Jerome Frink and junior
Tymell Murphy each poured in 12 points. Sophomore
Deric Hill tied his career high with 11 points, including 6-of-6 on free throws. Redshirt sophomore
Marco Porcher Jimenez also registered 11 points, making 3-of-4 attempts from beyond the 3-point line.
FIU finished the game shooting 42.3 percent (22-of-52) from the floor, 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from beyond the arc and 87.5 percent (21-of-24) from the free-throw line. The
Trojans shot 59.2 percent (29-of-49) from the field, 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from 3-point range and 85.7 percent (24-of-28) from the line.
UALR held a 29-24 edge in rebounding and scored 25 points of off 33 FIU turnovers to just 14 points for the Panthers off of 21 Trojan turnovers.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Panthers and marked FIU's third-straight loss to the Trojans.
FIU will next host the North Texas Mean Green at U.S. Century Bank Arena on Thursday, Jan. 17. Game time is set for 7:30 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/.
