SMU comes back, tops LaTech (Photo by Austin Kilgore, The Daily Campus)
Looking to win three consecutive games for the first time this season, the men’s basketball team (12-10, 7-7 WAC) hosted the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (13-10, 8-6 WAC) in a high-scoring battle last night in Moody Coliseum.
The Mustangs, who were without forward Patrick Simpson (severely sprained ankle), continued their recent trend of strong offensive second halves en route to a 73-70 come-from-behind victory over the Bulldogs.
Over the last six games, the Mustangs have outscored their opponents 238 to 207 in the second half.
Without Simpson and freshman guard Derrick Roberts (jammed right knee), SMU jumped out to an early lead thanks to a string of baskets by forward Devon Pearson and guards Justin Isham and Bryan Hopkins.
“Anytime you can lose two starters and go out and play with a lot of intensity,” head coach Jimmy Tubbs said after the game, “that’s not bad.”
Louisiana Tech pecked away, however, and tied the game at 11 when guard Donell Allick hit a three-pointer with 13:36 to go in the half. The senior from New Haven, Conn. hit five buckets from beyond the arc.
Hot shooting by Allick and forward Wayne Powell, each of whom scored 21 points, would help the Bulldogs charge to a lead of 16 with five minutes remaining.
By halftime, the Mustangs pulled to within 10 as Pearson sank a three-pointer in the final seconds. Pearson led SMU with seven first-half points.
The Bulldogs returned from the intermission with much of the same offensive prowess that helped them rack up 37 first-half points. Transfer guard Daevon Haskins, who pitched in 10 points and seven assists, hit a jumper three minutes into the half to push the Tech lead to 43-29.
The same Mustang trio who began the game on a hot streak would also get the Ponies back to within striking range in the second half. Over the course of seven minutes, Hopkins, Isham and Pearson combined for 16 points to bring SMU to within one.
After a lay up by Allick pushed the Bulldogs to a 50-47 lead, Hopkins hit a three to tie the game with 9:30 to play.
Hopkins, who led all scorers with 22 points, brought the vocal Moody crowd of 2,774 fans to its feet with the shot.
“The crowd support was great,” he said.
Tubbs echoed Hopkins’ sentiment. “Our crowd got into it,” he said. “They really helped us in the second half.”
Following a back-and-forth period of five minutes in which neither team led by more than three points, SMU center Eric Castro nailed two straight free throws to put the Mustangs ahead, 63-59. Castro tallied nine points, five rebounds and a team-leading four assists on the evening.
In the final two minutes of play, six Bulldog fouls led to eight free throw points from the Ponies’ Hopkins and Isham. Hopkins was seven of eight from the line in the game to push his team-high season total to 66.
Louisiana Tech’s Allick and guard Corey Dean tried to keep the Bulldogs in the game with a pair of three-pointers in the final 14 seconds, but the Mustangs’ late free throws helped SMU clinch a 73-70 victory.
“We made our shots in the second half,” Tubbs said of his team’s 56 percent shooting performance.
“This was the best win of the season up to this point,” he continued.
With the Rice’s loss to Nevada last night, SMU inched closer to the top half of the WAC standings. The team currently holds sixth place, just half a game behind the Owls.
“We’re hungry to win,” Tubbs said.
The Mustangs try to make it a season-high four wins in a row when they visit the Toledo Rockets (12-11, 8-6 MAC) this weekend as part of ESPN’s “Bracket Buster Saturday.” Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. in John F. Savage Hall, and the game may be heard locally on KAAM – 770 AM.
