On Tuesday, Feb. 3, the SMU men’s basketball team suffered a gut-wrenching last second loss of 83-84 at Moody Coliseum against NC State.
Boopie Miller attempted a layup in the last second of the game, but was blocked by three NC State point guards.
“Unfortunately, we lost two home games at the buzzer,” Coach Andy Enfield said. “Which is frustrating, but we have some very good points as well. Now our job is to regroup, put a very tough loss behind us. Get better in certain areas.”
The Mustangs now have a record of 15-7 in conference play, and will continue on the road for a Saturday afternoon match-up at 1 p.m. against Pittsburgh.
Jaron Pierre Jr. led the team with 23 points, mostly from free throws throughout the game. Boopie Miller trailed behind with 14 points, six less than his last game in which he scored a game-high 20 points against Florida State.
Right out of the gate, the ‘Stangs were neck and neck with NC State. Within the first two and a half minutes of the game, NC State scored four times and SMU twice as Boopie Miller assisted Corey Washington, who made a three-pointer that helped to tie up the game 7-7 at the 15-minute mark of the first half.
Miller’s points came from four rebounds, three free throws with five free goals, one steal and eight assists. Pierre Jr. and Washington both scored a couple of three pointers throughout the half off of Boopie’s assists.
The Mustangs caught more momentum as the first quarter went on, and scored back-to-back with Sam Walters and Pierre Jr., giving SMU a five-point lead over NC State with a score of 17-12 with 12 minutes left in the first half.
NC State had come off a four-game win streak, but they lost to Georgia Tech in early January and had since defeated one ranked team, the Clemson Tigers.
SMU ended the first half 42-34 and kept the lead within the first 15 minutes of the second half, then started to lose their grip as NC State got a pep in their step and began running the Mustangs ragged around the court.
“Sometimes, you know, we’re giving out those threes, it’s not good enough,” Enfield said.
NC State caught up quickly to SMU in the scoring race and then surpassed the Mustangs with a score of 60-61 during the last ten minutes of the game, which heavily amped up the crowd on both sides.
Moody was packed with attendance of 5,924 and not one spectator was sitting down in the Coliseum, roaring to the point of distortion as the score was 78-82 with two minutes left in the game.
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, NC State’s Ven-Allen Lubin continued the brutal takeover and scored three times, including the winning point of the game. Other lead scorers for NC State included Darrion Williams, who scored multiple three-pointers, and Quadir Copeland, with three free throws and multiple assists. All three players led the charge that paved the way to another NC State win that effectively overpowered SMU in the end.
