The SMU men’s basketball team (10-7, 2-2) is getting hot at just the right time, with Conference USA competition in full swing.
The Ponies are currently enjoying a three-game winning streak that includes two conference overtime victories over East Carolina and Rice and a blowout win over cream-puff Texas-Pan American on Tuesday night.
Against the team from Edinburg, the Mustangs were led by junior forward Devon Pearson, who scored 12 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in 25 minutes.
Both Derrick Roberts and Dez Willingham chipped 14 points, as the Mustangs shot an eye-opening 64 percent from the field.
The game was never really close, as SMU held a 19-point lead at half-time before cruising to a 30-point victory.
Coach Jimmy Tubbs’ squad has had an up-and-down season so far, after coming within three points of then ranked No. 14 Oklahoma, the Mustangs got blown out by 20 points to No. 3 Memphis.
In the team’s most recent home victory, the Ponies held a 12 point lead late in the first half but let the Owls from Rice back into the game in the second half.
With the SMU squad down seven points in the final minute of regulation, some students began clearing out of Moody, and boy, did they miss out on the fun.
The Owls struggled to hit critical free-throws and the Mustangs ended up with the ball down three points in the final seconds. Bryan Hopkins struggled to get a good look at a three pointer and passed off to Willingham who threw up a prayer from NBA three point range that found nothing but nylon and sparked the team to a rout in overtime. The game was a microcosm of the season thus far.
This year’s Mustangs are led by a very strong core of guards, including the always dangerous Hopkins, reliable sophomore Derrick Roberts and the newcomer of the group Dez Willingham.
Willingham is a sophomore who was forced to sit out all of last year after transferring from Kansas State.
After losing two key big men from last year, Eric Castro and Patrick Simpson, this year’s team my go only as far as their freshman front-court can take them. Brian Morris is a bruising forward presence at 6-foot-8-inches, 260 pounds who can bang inside and is strong on the defense boards.
The other freshman is big man Bamba Fall, who is a raw talent with a tremendous potential to be great.
Fall is probably the highest point on the Hilltop at 7-1, but he needs to spend more time in both the cafeteria and the weight room if he wants to be able to be a complete inside force. Fall is becoming a dynamic shot-blocker while also developing a decent inside game.
The constant force who will be a key to how this season will finish up is Pearson. If he can continue the season with performances like he had on Tuesday, this team, which had a number of question marks coming into the year, may be in store for a little bonus basketball come March.
Up next for Tubbs’ squad is a Saturday night visit to El Paso to take on a difficult Miner team from UTEP (11-5, 4-0).
Brian Capstick is a graduate student studying for his master’s in accounting. He can be reached at [email protected]
