Box Score MIAMI (Jan. 2, 2013) – A pair of 20-point performances by juniors Tymell Murphy and Malik Smith helped guide the FIU men's basketball team (5-7) to a convincing 88-72 win over the Florida A&M Rattlers (4-10) on Wednesday evening at the U.S. Century Bank Arena.

Murphy, who posted career highs in points (24) and rebounds (20) led the way for the Panthers, shooting 10-of-18 from the floor while registering a game-high 10 offensive boards. Smith notched his fourth 20-point game of the season, scoring 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting while tying a career best in rebounding with five.  Redshirt sophomore
Marco Porcher Jimenez contributed a career-high 12 points, shooting 3-of-5 from 3-point range.

Sophomore Deric Hill sparked the Panthers off of the bench, registering seven points and a career-high seven steals to go along with a season-high eight assists. Freshman Jerome Frink grabbed 10 boards for the second-straight game, adding six points in 23 minutes of action before fouling out.

The Panthers began the game, falling behind by as many as seven points to the Rattlers before a trey by Porcher Jimenez with 11:57 left in the first half gave FIU a lead it would not relinquish for the remainder of the half. The Panthers entered halftime with a 44-37 lead, shooting 43.2 percent from the floor (16-of-37). Through the first 20 minutes,
Murphy led all players with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Rattlers came out in the second half and erased the Panthers' lead, tying the game, 50-50, following a layup by Jomari Bradshaw with 16:10 left in the game. FIU responded and reclaimed the lead with a layup by Smith with 15:33 on the clock and never looked back.

For the game, FIU shot 40.3 percent from the floor (31-of-77) and converted 10-of-29 from long range (34.5 percent). As a team the Panthers recorded 14 steals and forced 25 FAMU turnovers, resulting in 34 points for FIU. The Panthers held a 51-48 edge on the boards as well points in the paint, 43-24.

The win snaps a two-game losing skid for the Panthers and gave FIU its third-straight win over the Rattlers.     

FIU returns to Sun Belt Conference play by hosting the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns at U.S. Century Bank Arena on Saturday, Jan 5. 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/.