SMU Basketball Update: Better Late Than Never

SMU Avoids Conference Cellar, Rallies Past Rice, 68-53

DALLAS – After a dreadful first-half performance against the only team in C-USA with a worse record than SMU’s, the Mustangs knew what was coming from head coach Matt Doherty in the locker-room. And it wouldn’t be pretty.

Said guard Jon Killen, “Before he even came in, I told the guys, ‘You know, Coach is gonna come in here, and he’s gonna try to get us going. I mean, that’s what the school pays him to do.’”

“We were ready for it,” said Killen, who had seven turnovers and zero points at the half. “It was not the first time. I guess there’s a million different ways to do things, but he does it his way. And it worked.”

Indeed it did - whatever it was.

SMU players wore pink t-shirts during warm-ups Saturday as part of the "Think Pink" initiative to raise awareness of breast cancer. At left is Bamba Fall and right, Ryan Harp.

SMU (8-13, 2-6) overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to fry Rice on Saturday, outscoring the Owls, 45-19, after the break. It was the Mustangs’ second consecutive home conference win.

Freshman Mike Walker’s cool 3 from the corner with less than five minutes to play gave SMU its first lead of the night, 51-50. Another Walker 3 at the 1:50 mark pushed the lead to 58-50 as the Mustangs eased to the finish with a 17-3 run.

“It was fun,” Doherty said. “But it was miserable for about 25 minutes.”

With the loss, Rice (3-19, 0-9) extended its losing streak to 12. Patrick Britton led all Owl scorers with 14 points. Rodney Foster and Lawrence Ghoram added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Rice.

Funky Times

The Mustangs trailed, 34-23, at the half and looked lifeless. Fourteen turnovers had given Rice 19 points and the Owls were out-shooting SMU 53 to 33 percent. The Mustangs had also given up nine second-chance points.

“We were in a funk,” Doherty said. “And I’ve been there as a player. You can yell and scream in the locker room but I think it comes down to … somebody making a play that excites them.”

Doherty said that play for SMU was a second-half Derrick Roberts’ trey that pulled the Mustangs to within nine points with 14 minutes left.

“To me, that got us going and it also got the crowd going,” Doherty said. “Then it was on. Then we played.”

Roberts, who battled a migraine headache throughout the game, led SMU with 20 points. Roberts said the migraine, his first ever, began a half-hour before the game. He was given an injection to ease its effect, but to little avail. (Doherty joked that Roberts should have another migraine against Marshall on Wednesday.)

Killen’s only field goal of the game - on four attempts - was a 3 from the top the key that tied the game, 44-all, with 9:37 to play. “To hit a shot like that, to kind of get us over the hump … it was kind of big,” Killen said.

Walker finished with 12 points. “I just wanted to get out the little slump I’ve had going on,” Walker said. “Basically, when I caught it I was just thinking, get my elbow under the ball and shoot it. They found me when I was open.”

Walker also tallied a career-high five assists.

Killen and Bamba Fall had 11 points each. Killen also collected five assists.

As a team, SMU (8-13, 2-6 CUSA) sank a phenomenal 22 of 23 free throws, including 15 of 15 in second half. Killen was a perfect 8-8 from the line.

The Owls shot 28 percent from the field in the second half. For the game, Rice was a woeful 1 of 14 from 3-point range and made just 6 of 10 free throws.

The Owls had no points off turnovers or second-chance points after halftime.

This Jon Killen 3-pointer, his only field goal of the night, tied the game, 44-44, with 9:37 play.

I.T.’s Take

Former Mustang basketball great Ira Terrell, now an analyst for SMU’s local television broadcasts, saw the turnaround this way: “It started on the defensive end, number one. If the offense is struggling, you have to start it defensively. You could tell the Mustangs were a lot closer to their men [in the second half.] They weren’t allowing Rice to run an offense and get wide open shots.”

Terrell said it was important for the Mustangs to avoid losing at home to the Owls.

“You want to have something to build on,” he said.

“This was a very beat-up Rice team,” Terrell noted. “The leading scorer [Paulius Packevicius] didn’t play – the 6-10 guy. So, you just can’t let something like that happen and just make sure it’s not going to happen in our house.”

“[SMU] really showed me something that last 10, 12, 14 minutes.”

Why the poor start? “It could have been that they just played the No. 1 team in the nation, [ Memphis],” Terrell said. “And they came back to play the worst team in the conference.”

“I think Matt probably got their attention,” he said. “Matt normally praises players, even if it’s for effort. If there’s no effort, then he’s going to get in your face.”

This night, face-time came just in time.

Next Two for SMU:

• Wednesday, Feb. 13, vs. Marshall, 7 p.m.

• Saturday, Feb. 16, at Houston, 7 p.m.

Ronnie Sez:

“I was really kind of disappointed with about three quarters of that game.” … “I’m hopeful that maybe they can carry the momentum they showed in the last ten minutes forward and they can pick up another win against Marshall.”

Ronnie Perry (SMU ’69) has followed Mustang basketball since 1957.

Quotable Doherty:

• On what he told Walker as he came out of the game with a minute left after hitting two clutch 3s: “You showed me that you had … the toughness to make the big shots.” (grinning) “Onions, as Bill Raftery would say. He showed me that he had some onions.”

• On being flat: “I remember … we played Georgia my junior year in college to go to the Final Four. And we came out lethargic. And you think, ‘How could you come out lethargic for a game to go to the Final Four?’” … “Sometimes, it’s just the day, it’s the mood, it’s the stars, it’s biorhythms. You don’t know. What can you do?” …“I regret not getting up at halftime of that game and yelling at Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins, ‘Get us out of this. You’re the guys with the talent. Let’s do something.’” ( Georgia won, 82-77.)

SMU Basketball Notes:

• SMU-Rice attendance – 3,173
• Former SMU AD Jim Copeland watched the game from courtside with Lettermen’s Association President Jim Johnston. “Fantastic game,” Copeland said. “I’ve seen Matt coach twice now. He’s won it both times.” At halftime, Copeland visited with SMU president R. Gerald Turner and AD Steve Orsini. After the game, Doherty came over and warmly greeted Copeland. Copeland retired in 2006 after 11 seasons at SMU. He now lives in Charlottesville, VA.
• Ira Terrell (1972-76) is SMU’s all-time leader in career rebounding average, with 13.5 per game. He holds the Moody Coliseum record for rebounds in a game with 26 against New Mexico State in 1975. Terrell’s 1,715 points ranks sixth all-time at SMU. He scored 30 points or more seven times, with a career-high 37 against Texas in 1974, which ties for ninth all-time at SMU.