Box Score MIAMI (Jan. 17, 2013) – FIU forced 23 turnovers resulting in 33 Panther points as the men's basketball team (9-8, 4-4 SBC) defeated the North Texas Mean Green (7-12, 2-6 SBC), 70-64, on Thursday evening at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

FIU's defense registered 15 steals and gave the Panthers 21 more shot attempts than the Mean Green, resulting in the team's first win at home versus North Texas since Jan. 18, 2007. 

Offensively, FIU shot 40.6 percent from the floor and was led by junior Tymell Murphy, who posted his fifth 20-point outing of the season, scoring 22 points on 11-of-16 shooting. Junior Malik Smith added 17 points, going 3-of-9 from 3-point range and converting 8-of-10 from the free-throw line. Senior Cameron Bell notched 12 points to round out the Panthers' double-digit scorers.

Freshman Jerome Frink recorded a game-high 10 rebounds for his seventh game of the season with 10-or-more boards.   

North Texas held a 34-31 edge in rebounds, while FIU out-scored the Mean Green, 34-18, in the paint.

The Mean Green shot 48.8 percent from the floor converting just 3-of-7 from beyond the arc, while making 19-of-25 attempts from the free-throw line. North Texas was led by Roger Franklin, who scored a game-high 29 points. The Panthers held the Mean Green's All-America candidate Tony Mitchell to zero points for the first time in the sophomore's career.

The win gives FIU its ninth of the season and snapped a three-game losing skid to North Texas while giving the Panthers their fourth-straight home victory. 

FIU will next host the Troy Trojans at U.S. Century Bank Arena on Saturday, Jan. 19. 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/.