Despite a first-round victory over Syracuse, a 62-58 loss to Louisville in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday, March 11, threatened men’s basketball’s chances of making the March Madness tournament.
SMU entered the ACC Tournament as the 11th seed, riding a four-game losing streak that gave the Mustangs an 8-10 ACC record. Despite ranking 31st in the NET entering Feb. with a near-guarantee to make March Madness, a 4-6 end to the season severely damaged SMU’s chances of dancing for the first time since 2017.
Part of the reason for the skid was the loss of starting guard BJ Edwards, who injured his ankle on Feb. 25 against Cal. Following the Edwards injury, SMU failed to score more than 80 points in any of its last four regular season games, despite averaging 84.2 over the season.
“BJ Edwards is an all-league player,” Head Coach Andy Enfield said. “Leads the league in steals, averages 13 points… so we had to get adjusted. We had four straight road games when he got hurt.”
The Mustangs were without Edwards in the ACC Tournament as well. It ultimately didn’t matter in game one, as Boopie Miller and Jaron Pierre Jr. carried the Mustangs to an 86-69 win over the 14th seed Syracuse.
“I feel like when [Jaron Pierre Jr.] shoots the ball well, we all look good as a team,” Miller said.
Miller and Pierre Jr. scored 25 and 21, respectively, while freshman Jaden Toombs contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds. The bench had a glaring zero points scored in 20 minutes played, highlighting a season-long issue of SMU’s lack of depth.
On Wednesday, the Mustangs played Louisville, whom SMU split the season series with. SMU fell to the Cardinals on the road on Jan. 31, but won the Feb. 17 home game 95-85.
It looked as though the Mustangs were going to catch a break against the sixth-seed Cardinals, who entered the tournament without star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. The guard injured his back, leaving him unable to play against SMU. Brown Jr. scored a combined 49 points in the two regular-season games against SMU and averaged over 18 points per game on the season.
Without Edwards or Brown Jr, both teams looked hopeless on offense in the first half. Miller and Pierre Jr. combined for two points, and Louisville scored a season-low 26 points in the first 20 minutes. The half ended tied at 26 apiece.
“We played very hard, played exceptional defense,” Enfield said.
The Mustangs managed to jump to their largest lead of the game at the start of the half thanks to three-pointers by Pierre Jr. and Sam Walters. The Mustangs were living on borrowed time, though, as Louisville crept back into the game and ultimately regained the lead with 05:38 remaining.
Pierre Jr. scored eight straight points to keep the Mustangs in the game, but clutch shooting by Cardinals senior Ryan Conwell kept the victory out of reach.
SMU had a chance to come back, but Miller missed a three-pointer and a layup, and Pierre Jr. missed a long ball of his own. Enfield acknowledged his team’s poor shooting but said he felt that lackluster officiating also had a role to play in the result of the game.
“The margin of error is very small in games like this,” Enfield said. “Somehow, we shot three free throws and they shot 20. I’ve never been in a college basketball game like that, when they’re grabbing and holding on every possession.”
Ultimately, the stars fell short for SMU. Miller only scored eight points and missed all eight three-pointers he attempted. Pierre Jr. did end up with 17 but had a team-high four turnovers, and Samet Yiğitoğlu finished with just two points.
With the 62-58 loss, SMU finished the season 20-13. At 4-9 in Quad 1 games, and just 5-4 in Quad 2 games, SMU’s position in March Madness is anything but guaranteed. SMU is the 37th-ranked team in the NET, but many projections have them lower or out of the tournament entirely.
After the loss to Louisville, Enfield made his case for why SMU should make the tournament.
“We feel very strongly that we deserve to be in,” Enfield said. “We had to learn to play without BJ Edwards. The last two games, I think you saw with the Syracuse game yesterday and the game today, that we’re an NCAA Tournament team.”
SMU’s fate will be decided on Sunday, March 15, when the NCAA announces the March Madness seeding. 68 teams will rejoice, but far more will see their March Madness hopes dashed. The Mustangs, a bubble team with zero guarantees, have a needle to their neck, threatening to burst any postseason dreams.
And now, they must wait for Selection Sunday.
“I feel like our resume is really strong enough,” SMU starting forward Corey Washington said. “It’s not our decision at the end of the day, but we’re for sure one of the best teams.”
