The Mustangs will look to Brian Epps to provide much-needed offense without Derrick Robberts. (James Bilowus)
The Mustangs finally broke into the win column and will look for that to carry over into the first of a three-game road trip.
The first stop for SMU will be in Oklahoma to face the University of Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane is coming off a loss to conference powerhouse Memphis. Tulsa fell to the Tigers 72-59 on Wednesday night at Memphis.
But it won’t just be the players who’ll be the deciding factor. Tulsa’s head coach Doug Wojcik knows SMU head coach Matt Doherty well. Wojcik was an assistant under Doherty at both Notre Dame and North Carolina. This will be the first time the two will face each other.
But the Mustangs did something they haven’t done since the first week of January on Wednesday: won a basketball game. The 55-53 win was the first since SMU defeated Brown 60-56 in overtime on Jan. 6, and the first win against a C-USA opponent.
The Mustangs found their go-to player in Ike Ofoegbu, who scored 14 second-half points to bring SMU back from a 13-point second-half deficit.
SMU will also look to two bench players to step up on Saturday night. Brian Epps and Dez Willingham will be expected to play more minutes and contribute in Derrick Roberts’ absence.
Roberts tweaked his knee and will be out of the SMU lineup for seven to 10 days.
The Mustangs saw their turnover total drop from the season average of 17.8 turnovers a game to only 12 against Tulane. But Tulane did not run the press that’s caused most of the turnover woes for SMU this season.
Tulsa, a team that averages 16.7 forced turnovers, has turned the ball over two fewer times than its opponents. The Mustangs have 56 more turnovers than their opponents.
Bamba Fall continues to be impressive in the SMU starting lineup. Fall went 4-4 in the final five minutes of Wednesday night’s victory, blocked three shots, and finished the game with eight points.
Jon Killen also continues to step up his offensive attack. After scoring 12 points Wednesday, Killen’s average points per game jumped to 8.2 points.
The road trip puts the Mustangs higher in the C-USA standings. SMU begins with Tulsa, (12-6, 2-3), and then moves to UAB, (10-9, 2-3). and ends with No. 11 Memphis, (16-3, 6-0).
