SMU Basketball Update: Blazin’ Buckets

UAB’s Vaden Lights Up SMU With 3-Point Barrage; Mustangs Honor Koncak

DALLAS – The UAB Blazers took a while to get untracked but when they did, oh, baby.

Robert Vaden erupted for a school-record eight three-pointers, seven in the second half, to lead UAB (19-8, 9-3) past pesky SMU, 73-59, on Saturday. Vaden entered the game tied for second in the nation in 3-pointers made per game (4.2).

“You gotta take your hat off to those guys, especially Vaden,” said SMU head coach Matt Doherty. “He’s a talented kid and they’re a talented team.”

SMU's Bamba Fall (21) finished with 14 points, nine boards and one block against UAB. Fall ranks third in C-USA with 52 blocks on the season.

“We knew we needed him through the stretch and he came through for us,” said UAB head coach Mike Davis, whose Blazers remain tied with Houston for second place in Conference USA.

It was the fourth loss in a row for SMU (8-17, 2-10).

Killen said when someone is popping from 25 feet, as Vaden did more than once, it’s tough to defend. “When a guy is making shots like that, you just hope he misses the next one.”

UAB was coming off two wild games - a one-point loss at home to then-No. 1 Memphis and a 101-99 win at Houston – and appeared sluggish early.

SMU was especially tough in the first half, despite being out-shot 40 to 32 percent. The Mustangs battled the Blazers to a near draw on the boards (21-20, UAB), and forced ten turnovers. Vaden was held in check, with only three points on 1 of 6 shooting.

“I thought SMU did a great job the first half,” Davis said. “They kept us off balance. We struggled shooting the basketball.”

At halftime, SMU president R. Gerald Turner took note of the Mustangs’ inspired play.

“They’re a pretty good little basketball team right now,” he said. “They play hard and, as you can see, under the basket tonight is just a war zone. Rather than backing off of it, our guys are stickin’ their noses right back in it.”

The Mustangs were paced by Killen’s 21 points, including six treys. Bamba Fall finished with 14 points and nine rebounds. Papa Dia led the team with 11 boards and had nine points.

Lots of close-in shots failed to fall for SMU. The game, in fact, seemed to turn south for the Mustangs when, with 13:28 left to play and SMU up, 47-40, a Fall lay-up attempt just missed, rolling around the rim then back out.

SMU was outscored, 33-12, the rest of the way.

Killen’s fourth foul came minutes later with the score tied at 50, and the Mustangs soon trailed, 58-50, as The Vaden Show hit its stride.

“I thought, obviously, that was the key point,” Doherty said the foul. “Because then we took a bad shot, they went down and hit a three and we got an offensive foul.”

Reggie Huffman had 13 points and 14 boards for UAB, and Channing Toney added 11 points.

Second-year UAB head coach Mike Davis praised the Mustangs. “They played hard,” he said. “This is a young basketball team that Matt has. Your heart goes out to them because we were in the same situation last year.”

Koncak Honored

At halftime, SMU honored its 1985 basketball All-American, Jon Koncak, with the retirement of his No. 53 to the rafters of Moody Coliseum in a presentation by President Turner and Director of Athletics Steve Orsini. Koncak, one of only two SMU men’s basketball All-Americans and a two-time All-Southwest Conference selection, played at SMU from 1981-85, leading the Mustangs to two NCAA tournament appearances.

Ira Terrell, right, looks on as SMU All-American Jon Koncak makes remarks during the halftime ceremony for the retirement of Koncak's jersey number, 53. Terrell is thought to be a strong candidate for joining Koncak one day. "You have to be really patient," Terrell said. "And I will be."

During Koncak’s senior year, SMU was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally.

Koncak told the crowd that some of his greatest memories came while playing for the Mustangs. He also announced to cheers that his daughter, who plays high school basketball in Wyoming, had just been accepted to SMU.

“After she graduates this year,” Koncak said, “I’m gonna have a little more time to come back to the Hilltop….. and just watch [this SMU team] grow, develop and turn into the team that we had.”

Koncak was a member of the 1984 USA Olympic Gold Medal team coached by Bob Knight and was a first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Hawks. He played in the NBA for 12 seasons.

Koncak’s number joins Jim Krebs’ No. 32 as the only retired men’s basketball numbers in SMU history. Krebs, SMU’s other men’s basketball All-American, played for the Mustangs from 1954-57 and led the team to its only Final Four appearance.

Koncak attended SMU’s practice on Friday and spoke to the team before and after the UAB game. Dia said he stressed confidence to SMU’s big men. Koncak also talked about similarities in SMU’s 1982 6-21 team, when he was a freshman, and the current Mustangs.

Said Doherty, “He’s been a great friend to the team for the last two years, coming back speaking at banquets, coming back just to visit. He’s been a great, great model for our guys.”

Ira Terrell, SMU’s three-time All-Southwest Conference pick and NBA veteran from the ‘70s, was on hand Saturday as game analyst for KTXA-TV. After the game, Terrell said he believes his time for recognition will come. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that it hasn’t happened already,” he said.

“But Jon is deserving, as is Gene Phillips and myself, maybe even Jeryl Sasser.”

“You really have to be patient,” he said. “And I will be.”

Next Two for SMU:

• Wednesday, February 27, @ East Carolina, 6 p.m. CT

• Saturday, March 1, vs. UTEP, 7 p.m. CT

Quotable Doherty:

• On SMU’s new $13 million practice facility, the Crum Basketball Center, and a recent $20,000 charter flight from Mississippi: “I told the team, ‘The University’s making a commitment to the program. We need to make the commitment - every day- regardless of what the score is.’ I said, ‘It’s gonna be a lot like work.’” … “We owe it to this University. We owe it to each other to come out and do the right thing and work hard.”

SMU Basketball Notes:

• This was the third meeting between Doherty and Davis. In 2001, Davis’ Indiana team beat Doherty’s UNC Tar Heels, 79-66. Last year, SMU topped Davis and UAB, 60-56, in Birmingham.

• Jeryl Sasser, a three-time All-WAC selection from 1997-01, is SMU’s all-time leading scorer, with 1,992 points. Gene Phillips, a three-time All-SWC pick from 1968-71, (before the 3-point shot), is second, with 1,932 points.

• It was a big week for President Turner and SMU. On Thursday the Crum Basketball Center officially opened and on Friday SMU announced it will be home to the George W. Bush presidential library. “Well, the Crum Center alone is a big enough event, usually,” Turner said. “If you have one of those in a year, it’s a good year. Then, to have seven years of effort culminate with the announcement for the Bush Library really did put an exclamation point on the week.”