Coming off of a loss to Temple, the SMU Mustangs were looking to get a home victory. However, the Mustangs came out rusty, and Houston took advantage of it.
Houston came out and knocked down four treys, three by Danuel House, in their first five baskets to take a 14-6 leads.
SMU started by trying to take too many outside jumpers. When those didn’t fall, Houston answered with a three of their own.
Once the Mustangs started going inside with the basketball though, they started to work their way back.
Nic Moore who committed three first-half turnovers led SMU’s rustiness. In the final four minutes, though, he went on a small four-point run that helped SMU take a 32-30 lead at the half.
“Our defense got a lot better,” said head coach Larry Brown. “We kept them off the line the last five minutes [of the first half].”
Sterling Brown hit a three out of the locker room followed by a Shawn Williams jumper that put the Mustangs up 37-30, but Houston wasn’t going down that easily.
Three straight baskets for Houston tied it up at 37.
The Mustangs, however, started to push the ball inside again, and, as a result, they started getting to the free throw line. This also prevented Houston from getting back and shooting open three-point shots.
“We’ve got to stay aggressive, put the pressure on them,” said Cannen Cunningham.
Halfway through the second half, Mustangs big man Cunningham backed that up. He collected a massive block and rebound. He passed it to Williams, who put it up and in to give SMU a six-point lead.
A few plays later Moore lobbed it up to Keith Frazier who slammed it down to give the Mustangs a 48-40 lead and make the crowd as loud as it had been all night.
J.J. Richardson of the Cougars hit a three as SMU threatened to pull away, only to be answered three by Moore. That put the score at 56-48 with 5:53 remaining.
Houston absolutely refused to go away as, with SMU up by seven, House hit a lay-up to cut the lead to 64-59.
However, SMU sealed the victory when they held Houston scoreless on the possession following a pair of Nic Moore free throws.
After a meaningless Houston three, the Mustangs walked away with a 68-64 victory.
The Houston Cougars were led Thomas and House. The two of them totaled 30 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
The Mustangs put together a true team effort as they got four points from nine players. Moore, though, as he usually does, led the way with 16 points, four boards, and three assists.
“I think [Moody Coliseum] is one of the best venues in the country. It helps when we’re not playing our best,” said Ryan Manuel. When a crowd can help a team win, that says a lot about the college arena.
SMU follows this up with a 1 p.m. tip-off at No. 21 UConn this Saturday.
