SMU senior guard Derrick Roberts looks for an open SMU player against Marshall. (Lindsey Perkins)
The SMU men’s basketball team dropped its eighth conference game on Saturday night falling to the University of Houston Cougars. The game ended with Houston (19-5, 8-2) topping SMU (8-15, 2-8) by a final score of 69-47.
SMU fell behind early when Houston jumped out to a 17-4 lead in the first nine minutes of play. The Mustangs were never able to mount a significant comeback and trailed for the entire game.
In the first half, the University of Houston built its large lead. The Cougars went on a 10-0 run in the final six minutes to widen their lead to 23 points. They went into the half with a 41-18 lead.
Freshman guard Ryan Harp led the Mustangs in scoring after posting six points on 3-5 shooting. He also pulled down three rebounds after playing nearly the entire half.
Senior guards Derrick Roberts and Jon Killen were stymied by the Cougars’ defense that concentrated their defenders on the two Mustangs. They went a combined 1-11 from the field and scored only three points in their combined 40 minutes.
Guard Robert McKiver, who scored more than 20 points against the Mustangs last time out, led the Cougars in scoring. McKiver scored nine points on 2-6 shooting from the three-point range.
The second half was a different story, considering the Mustangs outscored the Cougars 29-28. SMU relied heavily on junior center Bamba Fall, who scored 12 points (16 total) in the half on 5-5 shooting.
SMU head coach Matt Doherty distributed the minutes between the main seven players in the Mustangs’ rotation more evenly. Each one of those players saw double-digit minutes in the half.
McKiver finished the game 6-11, all from behind the arc, and with a game high 21 points. Overall, the Cougars shot 18-43 from behind the arc for a shooting percentage of 43 percent. The Cougars took all but 12 of their shots from the three-point range.
The Mustangs are in action again when they travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., to face the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles at 7 p.m. The Golden Eagles are currently even in conference play with a 5-5 record. They are 13-11 overall on the season.
