Mustangs dig hole in Miners
SMU used a dominating defensive performance to stampede past UTEP Saturday in El Paso. SMU put a positive end to their season on the road with a 65-43 win. UTEP’s 43 points were the fewest allowed to a conference opponent since the 1991-92 season.
SMU started the game strong, jumping out to a 20-8 lead. The Mustangs led for the entire evening.
SMU’s dominating performance started with defense. The team was well aware of their chance to finish second in the WAC if they win out. Beating UTEP was the first step to a strong conference finish.
“That was a big win for us,” senior guard Quinton Ross said. “We knew we couldn’t lose that game if we wanted to finish second. We knew we had to win.”
Ross scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds. He led SMU in scoring despite making only four of his twelve field goal attempts.
“We played pretty well defensively,” head coach Mike Dement said. “I thought they missed a lot of shots early, and that allowed us to stay in a zone as they continued to struggle.”
UTEP shot only 30 percent from the field. The Miners have faced the same problem much of the season and SMU’s zone defense challenged them to find a solution. In true five-win fashion, UTEP folded.
SMU led 32-22 at halftime and went up by 29 points in the second half as UTEP limps near the end of its worst season in 50 years.
Dement and the Mustangs have won 15 games for the seventh straight time and have ensured that they will finish above .500 during the regular season.
“[The road sweep] is the big thing,” Dement said. “The road in the WAC is so difficult. We told the kids before the game we had a chance to finish with a 5-4 record in WAC road games. That’s pretty good. The guys should be proud of that, especially the way we started out.”
If SMU finishes second in the conference, it will mark the school’s highest seeding since joining the WAC.
SMU celebrates senior night at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 8 at Moody Coliseum. Lousiana Tech comes into Moody after being blown out by Boise State 74-51.
