Box Score  DENTON, Texas (Feb. 9, 2013) – The FIU men's basketball team (13-11, 8-7 SBC) could not overcome 75.0 percent shooting by North Texas (9-17, 4-11 SBC) as the Panthers dropped a 77-67 decision to the Mean Green on Saturday night at the Super Pit in Denton, Texas.
 
FIU, which was led by junior Tymell Murphy's 23 points, forced 21 North Texas turnovers and created 19 more scoring opportunities. However, the Mean Green out-rebounded FIU, 28-14, and converted 10 more free throws then the Panthers.
 
Murphy shot 10-of-12 from the floor for his seventh 20-point outing of the season. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native grabbed a team-high five rebounds while tallying two assists and three steals.
 
Also scoring in double-figures was sophomore Deric Hill, who scored a career-high 15 points of 4-of-9 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the free-throw line. Hill recorded a game-high five steals to give the Miami native 52 on the season.
 
The game began with both teams exchanging buckets through the first two minutes. A jumper by North Texas' Roger Franklin at the 18:04 mark of the first half gave the Mean Green a lead that they would never relinquish.
 
Trailing by six, 41-35, after the first 20 minutes, FIU pulled within four points, 48-44, following a Murphy layup with 15:29 left in the game. North Texas, which shot 78.9 percent (15-of-19) in the first half, continue its solid shooting, converting 9-of-13 from the floor (69.2 percent), coupled with an 18-of-23 performance from the free-throw line to extend its lead to as many as 13 points en route to the 77-67 decision.
 
The Panthers shot 43.1 percent from the field (22-of-51), including 6-of-15 from beyond the arc (40.0 percent) for the contest. FIU made 17-of-20 attempts from the free-throw line, shooting better than 80 percent from the line for the second time this season (.875 at UALR – 1/12).
 
The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Panthers and marked FIU's second-straight road loss.
 
FIU will next travel to Troy, Ala., to take on the Troy Trojans on Thursday, Feb. 14. Game time is scheduled for 8:30 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/.