In the first round of the Conference USA Tournament the SMU Mustangs men’s basketball team lost 74-65 to Marshall in Memphis, Tenn. on Wednesday.
Senior Rodney Clickscales had a team high of 17 points, marking the third consecutive time he has scored 10 or more points. SMU Head Coach Matt Doherty expected something like this output from Clinkscales.
“Rodney’s got that toughness. He’s not afraid of the moment and not afraid to stick his nose in there and he was a bright spot for us today,” Doherty said.
Marshall senior Damier Pitts scored all 16 of his points in the second half after SMU came back from a 33-26 deficit at the half to tie it before Pitts went off on his scoring streak. Marshall capitalized on SMU’s 12 turnovers to score 29 points off turnovers to SMU’s five.
“We played against men. It was men against boys at times. We didn’t match their toughness inside,” Doherty said after the game.
“It’s frustrating. Our guys got better throughout the season and played some of our better basketball at the end of the season and I’m proud of them for that.”
SMU finishes the season 13-19 while going 4-12 in conference play.
SMU heads into an off-season where the team leaders graduate and the remaining players get ready for another round.
“Cannen, Leslee, Ryan, Jalen, all the first-year guys got better. I think this will be good for them,” Doherty said.
Three of the top five scorers for the Mustangs were playing in their very first season as a part of the Mustang Nation.
Jones was 5-6 from the free throw line and finished second all-time for a freshman with 142 free throws.
Senior Robert Nyakundi finished his SMU career 15th on the list of all-time leading scorers 1353 points. Nyakundi is also second all-time on the SMU three-pointer list with 267 made.
During his final game as a Mustang, Nyakundi shot just 2-10 from behind the arc, an unusual low for the C-USA leading shooter.
“Robert is the focus of scouting reports. He didn’t look like he had his legs today for whatever reason,” Doherty said.
SMU’s season ends with almost no chance at any postseason tournament bid after going to the CIT last year.
With the conclusion of the 2011 to 2012 season SMU set a new record for scoring defense at 60.1 percent and a season-high 6 blocked shots.
