Mustangs bury Miners from tip-off

The Mustang basketball team handled the UTEP Miners 80-56 last night at Moody Coliseum. Sophomore forward Patrick Simpson lead the Ponies with 14 points and six rebounds.

SMU fell behind 4-0, but a 13-0 run put the Mustangs ahead for good. SMU’s dominance began in the first half and continued throughout the game.

SMU lead UTEP 42-22 at the end of the first half, after the Ponies shot 53 percent from the three-point line. The Mustangs also outrebounded the Miners 20-13 halfway through the contest.

Simpson attributed SMU’s strong first half start to the words of head coach Mike Dement.

Simpson claimed Dement told them to, “get a fire under us, get a spark going.”

Motivation could have been an issue for the Mustangs against a less talented UTEP team and playing in front of fewer than 3,000 people. SMU did not take any sitation for granted.

“In the WAC, anyone can beat anyone,” Simpson said. “We can’t look past anybody.”

In spite of a 21-point performance from UTEP freshman guard Giovanni St. Amant, the Miners never got to within 16 points of the Mustangs in the second half.

Senior guard Quinton Ross, WAC player of the week, had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in only 25 minutes Thursday. Ross’s 10 points gave him over 1,500 career points as a Mustang.

Senior forward Jibran Kelley also pitched in with 10 points and six rebounds.

Kelley enjoyed the blow out victory. He attributes the Mustang success of late to a simple source.

“We’re relaxed and just having fun out there right now,” Kelley said.

Kelley was one of five Mustangs who scored in double figures Thursday.

Kelley saw the win as a sign of things to come for the team.

“Finally, we’re realizing how good we can be,” Kelley said.

Dement pointed to the Ponies good shooting and energy as the reasons for the win. However, he stressed that the defense has to stop giving up so many good shots.

Despite feeling that the team could have been “sharper” last night, Dement is poised and ready for the next task.

“This was a good win and now we focus our energy on Boise [State],” Dement said.

Thursday’s game was the first of a four-game home stand for the Mustangs. SMU now has a four game win streak coming off its first undefeated road trip since 2000.

The win brings SMU into a tie for second place in the WAC, and improves the Ponies record to 10-8 (5-3 WAC).

SMU will face Boise State at Moody on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.

Post-game Notes

Thumbs up to head coach Mike Dement. It takes a lot to get a team motivated for a team that they are expected to beat. And to blow them out … Dement did a good job of focusing his team.

Thumbs down to SMU’s sparse 16 team assists. The team has got to move the ball better in order to beat the better teams in the conference.

Player of the Game – Patrick Simpson with 14 points, three blocks and a busted lip. All in a night’s work.