Shoot some hoops, eh?

The men’s basketball team began its preseason practiceTuesday morning in Moody Coliseum.

According to a press release, the early start is thanks to apreseason trip to Vancouver, British Columbia. The trip isscheduled for Oct. 10-14, during fall break.

Upon making the trip to Canada, the Mustangs will be allowed 10additional practices by the NCAA.

In Tuesday’s press release, men’s basketball coachMike Dement said the tour will allow him to try different lineups,and it will allow the team to do things it wouldn’t normallyget to do.

“It allows us to get our freshmen some minutes, so theydon’t have to play their first real competition for SMUagainst tough teams like TCU, San Diego, Texas Tech, Baylor or thelike,” he said.

The Mustangs have four first-years for the 2003-2004 season.

During the trip, the Mustangs will battle Simon Fraser, theVancouver All-Stars and the University of British Columbia.

The trend of taking foreign trips was started by Duke Universitylast year when the Blue Devils traveled to England for atournament.

The exhibition season begins Nov. 8 when the Mustangs hostInterHoops, a team from Lithuania.

Returning for this season is sophomore guard Bryan Hopkins.Hopkins was recently named a preseason first-game All-WAC player byAthlon Sports.

Hopkins averaged 13.1 points and 3.9 assists last season.

As a team, the Mustangs are picked to finish fifth behindNevada, Hawaii, Fresno State and Tulsa.

Information provided by SMUMustangs.com