SMU’s Ike Ofoegbu goes for a jump shot while tring to break through the Rice defense. (Nick McCarthy)
Getting a lead has been hard for the Mustangs lately. Keeping a lead at home has been even harder. Saturday night’s 63-60 loss to Rice joined Southern Miss and UTEP as close games SMU couldn’t pull out at home.
The Mustangs (13-11, 2-8) jumped out to a 12-point lead with just 2:21 left in the first half, but allowed the Owls (13-10, 7-3) to cut that lead to just six before the half ended.
In the first half SMU shot 52 percent, and 42 percent from the three-point line.
The Mustang offense was boosted by Brian Epps, who scored nine points in the game, all in the first half. Epps went 3-10, all three-point attempts.
But the Mustangs went cold in the second half, shooting just 35 percent from the floor and a meager 18 percent from the three-point line, making two of 11 attempts.
Rice was led by an outburst of scoring from Marcus Almondthe, the third-leading scorer in the nation. Almond averaged 27.7 points a game going into Saturday night’s game.
The Mustangs were able to hold Almond to just 10 first-half points. But that wouldn’t last long; he scored 19 points in the second half, including the winning three-point shot with 1:14 left in the game.
Almond’s three came just after SMU’s Jon Killen tied the game at 60 with a made basket and free-throw shot.
Ike Ofoegbu led the Mustangs once again. He tallied his sixth double-double of the season, scoring 16 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. It was his seventh game in a row with double-digit scoring.
The Mustangs got offensive output all the way down the lineup.
Ofoegbu’s 16 and Epps’ nine were combined with Dez Willingham’s nine points, eight from Killen, six from Bamba Fall and Devon Pearson, four from Donatas Rackauskas and two from Derrick Roberts.
But the offense wasn’t enough to keep up with Almond’s 29 and Lorenzo Williams’ 14 points.
SMU also suffered another loss. Roberts, who just returned to the lineup on Wednesday night, played just 12 minutes on Saturday.
According to head coach Matt Doherty, Roberts’ injured knee did not respond well after Wednesday’s loss to Houston. His knee will continue to be evaluated.
Epps’ improved play and Roberts’ return send Pearson to the bench after some less-than-impressive games.
Pearson averaged just five points a game before losing his starting role. In the two games Pearson has come off the bench, he averaged 9.5 points a game.
SMU’s record places it next to last in the C-USA rankings. Only 0-9 East Carolina, who SMU will play on Saturday, has a worse ranking.
But before that, the Mustangs will look to get their second road C-USA win of the season on Wednesday night.
SMU will travel to Huntington, W. Va., to play the Marshall Thundering Herd.
The Thundering Herd are just one spot above the Mustangs in the C-USA rankings with a 4-6 conference record.
SMU’s Bamba Fall (left) attempts a basket against Rice’s Patrick Britton (right) during the Saturday night’s 63-60 loss. (Nick McCarthy)
