SMU basketball update: Why They Play The Game

SMU Takes Vaunted Tigers To Limit Before Falling, 64-61

CUSA Fans SMU Correspondent Rick Atkinson brings you his latest SMU basketball update.

DALLAS – Check this out: the SMU Mustangs played No. 6 Memphis Saturday - the same team that stomped the stuffing out of them, 88-52, a month ago. And this time, the Mustangs were without starters Bamba Fall, Derrick Roberts and dismissed senior Brian Epps.

Blood bath, right? Wrong.

With 14 seconds left, Memphis led an inspired group of Mustangs by just one point, 62-61. As the Tigers’ Chris Douglas-Roberts stepped to the foul line for two free throws, the noise level in Moody Coliseum was thunderous.

It was a bit surreal: SMU had a chance to win this.

SMU seniors, from left, Devon Pearson, Donatas Rackauskas and Ike Ofoegbu, led the Mustangs in scoring against Memphis.

Douglas-Roberts’ first shot kissed the front of the rim, skipped to the back and out. The second missed worse, bouncing high off the rim – and right back to Douglas-Roberts. He was quickly fouled.

“That was the dagger,” said SMU head coach Matt Doherty.

This time, Douglas-Roberts sank both shots and Memphis’ lead was three. Ike Ofoegbu’s shot to tie from deep in the corner missed at the buzzer and SMU’s fairy tale ended.

But, this one was still special.

“It might be the best game never won by SMU in Moody Coliseum,” Doherty said. “I don’t know, in recent history, at least.”

Seniors Step Up
Playing in their final home game, seniors Donatas Rackauskas, Devon Pearson and Ofoegbu led SMU with14, 16 and 21 points, respectively.

“It was our last game,” Pearson said. “We wanted to go out with a bang.”

“We had nothing to lose,” added Rackauskas. “They had everything to lose.”

Said Doherty, “I told my team, ‘I couldn’t be more proud of you if you had won the game.’ I’m not into moral victories by any means, but the effort that they put forth, the level that they played at, in spite of all that we’ve had to go through in the last month, I’m proud of them.”

Jon Killen had seven points and seven assists for SMU.

With seven scholarship players available for SMU, point guard Dez Willingham and forward Ofoegbu never left the floor. Forward Pearson played 38 minutes and guard Jon Killen played 36, before fouling out.

Doherty said he told his team not to take the floor unless they believed they could win.

“I just said, ‘Whatever you do, compete, lay it on the floor and that way you can look yourself in the mirror tonight and feel good about what you did.’ I think they can feel good about themselves. I think that they gained respect, even in defeat.”

This was no face-saving late run, either. The Mustangs played Memphis toe-to-toe for forty minutes, never trailing by more than four points - and that came with 22 seconds to play.

SMU’s largest lead was 12.

Douglas-Roberts led Memphis (27-3, 16-0) with 19 points. Joey Dorsey had 13 and Jeremy Hunt added 11. Robert Dozier and Dorsey had seven boards each. Pearson had nine rebounds for the Mustangs.

Mustang Attitude
What surprised Memphis head coach John Calipari most about this game?

“That [SMU’s] attitude was they were gonna beat us,” he said. “You have to understand, we really got them at our place.”

Memphis Tigers Jeremy Hunt (5) and Joey Dorsey (32) work against Paulius Ritter (L) and Cameron Spencer (R).

“That’s a tribute to their coach and their players.”

The Mustangs (14-16, 3-13) had only 13 turnovers against Memphis’ harassing press. Willingham and Killen had perhaps their best ball-handling night of the season, with only two turnovers each.

“We couldn’t get them to turn it over like I thought we’d be able to,” Calipari said. “They played us as good as anybody’s played us all year, really - other than maybe, Arizona or Tennessee.”

Calipari didn’t necessarily agree that his team was flat. “What that means, … [is] the other team is playing harder than you’re playing,” he said. “They’re beating you to loose balls.” He noted SMU got three offensive rebounds in the game’s first two minutes. “That’s all just effort.”

Calipari praised SMU’s defense. “They did a good job. We had some open threes, [but] we didn’t have a whole lot of open shots.” Memphis shot 37 percent to the Mustangs’ 39.

Calipari said Dorsey going 5-5 from the line was a key for the Tigers. “A lot of times he goes 1-5 or 0-5,” he said.

Ominous Start
Things looked a bit ominous early on for SMU as Ofoegbu picked up a foul in the game’s first 15 seconds, followed by a deep three by Douglas-Roberts. But SMU roared back for an 11-3 lead and, three minutes in, Calipari sensed trouble.

“I’m looking up, [and] I thinking we’re going be down by 20 here in a minute,” he said. “I subbed four guys just to get us back to where we could settle down.”

But the Mustangs surged to a 19-7 lead, on two Pearson threes and a tip-in by Rackauskas, before Memphis finally got untracked. A 19-6 run gave the Tigers the lead, 26-25, with 3:49 left in the half.

Memphis led, 29-28, at the break.

Anyone expecting Memphis to take control the rest of the way was mistaken. There were eight ties in the second half, as SMU wouldn’t go away. Rackauskas fouled out with eleven minutes left and SMU leading, 44-43.

Killen followed with four minutes remaining and the game tied, 56-56.

Still, the Mustangs hung on to the end with freshman Cameron Spencer, Paulius Ritter, Willingham, Pearson and Ofoegbu.

Doherty said he told the Mustangs, “If this doesn’t convince you that we can run the table in Memphis [at the C-USA tournament], I don’t know what can.”

“They’re great guys,” he said of his players. “I’m blessed to be associated with them.”

“This team is the foundation of the future.”

Next game: C-USA Tournament, Fedex Forum, Memphis; 11-seed SMU vs. 6-seed Southern Miss, Wednesday, March 7, 2:30 p.m.

SMU Basketball Notes:

• Attendance: 3,592
• SMU hasn’t beaten a ranked opponent at home since 1993.
• Memphis has a shot at the national title, if you’re asking Doherty. “I think they’re good enough to win it all,” he said. “I really do.”
• Doherty said Roberts could have played but at only about 50% effectiveness. “I want to have him as good as we can have him for next Wednesday.” Doherty said he expects Fall back too. “
• Said Doherty about seniors Rackauskas, Ofoegbu and Pearson: “I thought they all played fantastic. I’m real proud to be associated with them and I think they represent SMU in a great way.”
• Pearson said Moody’s decibel level was great. “I loved it,” he said.