The SMU men’s basketball team has the real McCoy, but he wasn’t quite enough to get the Mustangs the tournament championship they were hoping for last weekend.
Freshman point guard Paul McCoy piled up 51 points in three games, including 22 against Illinois State University on Sunday, but the Mustangs couldn’t achieve a perfect record in the SMU Tip-Off Classic at Moody Coliseum.
The Mustangs defeated Houston Baptist University 79-60 on Friday and Alabama State University 56-51 on Saturday. The Redbirds finally tripped up the host team 84-73 in the tournament’s final game.
“This is a learning process,” said junior Derek Williams. “People say that we’re a young team. But when we win, we’re not a young team, we’re a good team.”
The Mustangs (2-2) travel to Ft. Worth to face rival Texas Christian University on Wednesday. SMU has won three straight matchups, including a 71-65 victory last year in Moody Coliseum.
The Mustangs trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half Sunday before closing the gap to seven with just under eight minutes remaining. However, the sharp-shooting Redbirds had too much firepower for SMU to keep up.
Illinois State hit 13-of-23 3-pointers, including a string of five straight to start the second half. Champ Oguchi, who was named tournament MVP, hit six 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 28 points.
Oguchi scored 13 straight points for the Redbirds in the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half. His 3-pointer with 17:59 remaining in the second half sparked a 15-4 run, which put the Redbirds up 17 with 14:45 left to play.
Several minutes later, McCoy energized the home crowd with a coast-to-coast layup, beating three defenders and kissing the ball off the glass.
A Williams fast-break layup with 7:40 remaining drew the Mustangs to within seven, but Illinois State’s Osiris Eldridge nailed a 3-point dagger on the next possession. SMU did not draw within seven the rest of the way.
Williams, who was also named to the All-Tournament team, finished with 16 points and five assists for the Mustangs. Mike Walker hit 5-of-6 3-pointers and finished with 15 points.
The Mustangs shot 49 percent from the field and 65 percent from the free-throw line. Illinois State hit 10-of-12 free-throw attempts in the final 3:29 to seal the victory.
SMU’s Papa Dia and Bamba Fall continued their sputtering start to the season, combining for only 11 points and 13 rebounds. Dia and Fall, who were thought to be strengths for the Mustangs going into the season, have each averaged only 7.3 points in SMU’s first four games.
SMU 56, Alabama State 51
The Hornets led by as many as eight points with 17 minutes remaining in the second half, but SMU charged back with strong efforts from McCoy and Fall, who had his first double-digit point game of the season.
Fall hit his first bucket of the game with 13:34 left, and the Mustangs seized momentum for good on an alley-oop from Williams to Fall with 10:22 remaining. A Fall hook shot in the lane just minutes later capped a 15-4 SMU run.
Alabama State pulled within two with about seven minutes left, but two straight McCoy layups kept the Mustangs in control. McCoy drained a 3-pointer with 2:31 remaining to put the Mustangs ahead 55-46.
Fall and McCoy combined to score 21 of SMU’s 27 second-half points.
SMU 79, Houston Baptist 60
Dia (15 points) and Williams (15 points) led the Mustangs’ attack. SMU trailed by as many as six points midway through the first half, but red-hot 3-point shooting allowed the Mustangs to open up a 22-point lead with 9:29 remaining.
SMU hit 11-of-24 3-pointers and shot 48.5 percent from the field.
