Moody Buzz-Kill

SMU Falls To 1-4 In C-USA With 80-74 Home Loss To ECU

DALLAS – When Derek Williams’ 3-pointer swished home to give SMU a six-point lead over ECU with 12 minutes left to play Saturday, its biggest lead of the game to that point, a piercing cheer erupted from Mustang fans as most every set of arms in Moody Coliseum shot upward toward the joint’s venerable rafters.

Robert Nyakundi puts in a first-half free throw for SMU. Nyakundi, making his first conference start for the Mustangs, finished with 11 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes of play.

For a moment, the raucous din reminded just how loud and exciting Moody can be. The students were back. Football recruits were there. The crowd was supporting this team - just as SMU coach Matt Doherty had often requested.

But as the second-largest home crowd of the season (3,641) watched, the Mustangs’ lead evaporated - and the energy drained. ECU applied defensive pressure and made key shots down the stretch for the win, the Pirates’ second in league play this season.

James Legan’s trey put ECU up for good, 67-66, with 7:40 remaining - during a six-minute SMU scoring drought.

For the Mustangs (6-11, 1-4), an opportunity was lost. And SMU coach Matt Doherty knew it.

“I’m disappointed for my players,” he said afterward, “but I’m probably even more disappointed for SMU because we had a good crowd here.”

In this evenly matched game - there were 12 lead changes and 10 ties – the Mustangs appeared to tighten up with the game on the line. Doherty said he wasn’t sure if his team “tightened up,” but allowed it’s possible. “I don’t know,” he said. … “I think maybe our guys are anxious to win and maybe they are a little tight at times.”

Said SMU guard Derek Williams later, “We got the lead and then we sort of eased up, instead of keeping the pressure on them. I think that was one of our main problems. And our offense got stagnant towards the end too.”

Mouhammad Faye drives the lane against ECU. Faye had nine points and four rebounds for SMU. "Mouhammad didn't shoot it as well as I think he's capable of shooting it," said Mustangs' coach Matt Doherty.

“We were so worried about keeping the lead and not messing up,” added Williams, “I think that’s where everybody got tight instead of just playing their game.”

Particularly frustrating for Mustang fans had to be this sequence: trailing by four points with 35 seconds left, SMU’s Justin Haynes made a steal at mid-court and was fouled driving for the basket. SMU got the rebound after his missed free throw then a 3-point attempt by Mouhammad Faye was off the mark. SMU rebounded again, but turned it over.

Three chances at crunch time, no points. Ball game.

Fall, McCoy Lead

Bamba Fall and Paul McCoy led the Mustangs with 16 points each. Williams added 14. Robert Nyakundi scored 11 points in his first league start, but was just 1-6 from beyond the arc.

Fall was big in the paint, getting loose for back-to-back second-half dunks and blocking three shots. Fall shot 6 of 7 from the field. “When he touched the ball, good things happened,” Doherty said.

Darrius Morrow led ECU (10-8, 2-3) with 21 points and seven rebounds. Jamar Abrams also had seven boards for the Pirates and added 16 points. ECU shot 50 percent from 3-point range (10-20).

“When they shoot the ball like that, they’re tough to beat,” Doherty said. “They took us out of our zone, especially with Abrams shooting the ball, stepping out to the top of the key. Then Morrow down low had a tremendous first half.”

“I thought our guys played fairly well. Mouhammad didn’t shoot it as well as I think he’s capable of shooting it.”

SMU shot free throws at an 81-percent clip (17-21) and had just eight turnovers against 14 assists. ECU was also hot from the line, hitting 82 percent (14-17).

ECU led, 39-38, at the half.

Quotable Doherty

“Our team, at times, is too casual, too easy going,” Doherty said. “But everybody struggles with that. [Dallas Mavericks coach] Rick Carlisle struggles with that.”

SMU coach Matt Doherty discusses the Mustangs' 80-74 loss to the Pirates. "I'm disappointed for my players, but I'm probably even more disappointed for SMU because we had a good crowd here."

Doherty said his team needs players who have high energy “all the time.”

“That energy is a real gift,” he said. “We need to develop that. It’s hard to develop. You [also] need to recruit it. It’s hard, sometimes, to find it in recruiting.”

“We can’t play perfect. Perfection is the goal, but nobody plays perfect basketball.”

Doherty quoted the great Bill Russell: “Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory. And that is so true. Especially in college basketball today.”

“They’re good guys,” Doherty said of his team. “They’re working hard and they’re doing the best they can. There’s a fine line [between winning and losing.] …. “We’re just, unfortunately, 1-4.”

Doherty said his team still has no “emotional leader,” save for himself.

Analysis

More and more, Doherty’s program should be judged only by its wins and losses, not moral victories or statistical improvements against average teams. Losing to ECU at home is not good, nor is looking bad in road losses to Rice and TCU.

The fans came out for this one and Doherty’s team didn’t deliver. Plain and simple. A young team? Sure, but inspired young teams kick somebody’s butt every week.

So what’s the problem?

Is Doherty getting out-coached? Is losing just expected/accepted at SMU? Or are the players just confused? This scribe doesn’t know, but “yes” answers to all those questions currently appear on Ponyfans.com’s message board, where fan frustration is boiling over.

Or how about this? Did SMU put the cart before the mustang? Have luxurious new digs at the state-of-the-art Crum Center practice facility taken the edge off this team? Off Doherty? Should evidence of a scrappy, tough, winning program have come first? (After all, they didn’t expand the Cotton Bowl until after Doak Walker was a star, not when he was signed.) Again, I don’t know.

Third-year SMU AD Steve Orsini must surely realize the tenor of his tenure is sagging. The school’s most visible programs, football and men’s basketball, have not improved where it counts – in the win column.

Something’s wrong, but after Saturday’s loss one thing looks certain: it’s not on the fans.

2009 SMU Basketball Notes:

• *Bamba Fall now has 225 career blocks, seventh in C-USA history.
• Derek Williams has scored 14 or more points in four consecutive games.

Next Two for SMU:

• @ UCF, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 6 p.m. CT
• @ Tulsa, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2 p.m.