The Mustangs’ season came to a close over spring break as SMU ended the year with two straight losses to the University of Houston. SMU (9-21) dropped the final game of the regular season in Houston 89-77 on March 7 and, four days later, lost to the Cougars (20-10) 85-76 in the opening round of the Conference USA tournament.
The loss caps a disappointing and frustrating year for the Mustangs, whose youth and inexperience consistently reared its ugly head during the season. SMU failed to win a single road game the entire season. Also, SMU showed a tendency to fall apart late in the game, going 2-5 in conference games decided by six points or less, and in the two victories the Mustangs squandered a 16-point lead against Rice and a 14-point lead against Southern Miss to win by three and two respectively.
SMU improved in several key statistics this season. The Mustangs’ defense was improved, allowing conference opponents almost four points less per game. SMU showed a significant improvement in rebounding this year, posting a +1.8 rebounding margin after a -4.2 mark last season.
However, there are still some fundamental areas that must be refined this off-season in order for the Mustangs to be relevant in the conference. SMU’s conference scoring average was down from 63.4 in 2008 to 61.8 points per game this season. SMU continues to struggle from the free-throw line falling from 69.9 percent last season to a dismal 64.9 percent in conference for 2009. While the Mustangs improved in total turnovers, their turnover margin got worse providing opponents more opportunities to score.
From a defensive perspective, senior Bamba Fall will be severely missed. The seven-foot senior averaged 7.1 rebounds per game, and finished his career second on SMU’s all-time list for blocked shots. However, SMU still has another seven-footer on the roster, sophomore Tomasz Kwiatkowski, who will surely see more action with Fall gone. To further fill the void left by Fall, SMU signed a six-foot-11, 230 pound high school senior Julius Omoniurhie in November to help fill the gap left by Fall’s departure.
Offensively, the Mustangs were inconsistent for much of the season. Fall, who averaged 12.4 points in conference play last year, seemed unconfident for much of the season, on his way to only nine points per game. Sophomore Papa Dia seemed to take a step back as well, after averaging 25 minutes and 11 points in 2008, Dia put forth a meager 16.4 minutes an 4.8 points this season.
While the returning players were struggling to bring in points, SMU looked to newcomers to fuel the offense, culminating with Paul McCoy being the first freshman to ever lead SMU in scoring. Derek Williams and Mouhammad Faye were two other first-year players who stepped in to lead the Mustangs, averaging 12.7 points and 9.6 points respectively. Despite the lowest win total in recent years, there is a silver lining that gives hope for better things to come. Fall is the only senior that the Mustangs lose this year and return with a strong nucleus that brings vital experience on the court for next season.
