SMU Basketball Update: Mining Moody Gold

SMU Shafts Miners In Double OT; Killen Scores 33

DALLAS – It had been five years to the day – nine straight losses - since SMU had beaten UTEP. And, brother, that’s too long.

With his last chance at the Miners, senior Jon Killen made it count with a career-high 33 points and game-high nine assists, as SMU prevailed, 99-96, in a double-overtime thriller on Saturday.

It was the most points scored by the Mustangs in a conference game since January of 2000, when they topped UTEP, 104-87.

Jon Killen, right, enjoys a laugh in the post-game interview with KTXA-TV game analyst Ira Terrell. SMU head coach Matt Doherty sent Killen for the interview in his place, a nod to Killen's huge game.

Venerable Moody Coliseum has seen plenty of great games in its fifty-plus years. Add this one to the list – near the top.

SMU, sniffing the cellar with just two league wins, simply wouldn’t die. The Mustangs clawed back from a 13-point second-half deficit and trailed in each OT period before putting UTEP away.

“This was huge,” said Killen. “It was awesome to beat them, at home, especially.”

The loss dropped the Miners (16-11, 7-7) into a four-way tie for fifth place in C-USA.

UTEP’s Stefon Jackson, the league’s leading scorer, sent the game to OT initially with a deep, off-balance 3 with 2.5 seconds on the clock. His attempt to duplicate the magic at the end of the second OT missed, setting off a wild Mustang celebration.

Huddled at mid-court with head coach Matt Doherty, the team chanted, “We’re not dead!” Doherty then rushed over to conduct the Mustang Band for a few bars before heading to the locker room.

Doherty called SMU’s play “inspired,” adding his team needed this one after five straight losses. “I thought it was critical because we’ve got a sizable challenge on Wednesday [with Memphis,]” he said.

In the second OT, SMU (9-18, 3-11) converted eight consecutive free throws: two by Alex Malone to open the period, four by Bamba Fall and two by Killen. Fall’s second free throw put the Mustangs up for good, 95-94, with 48 seconds left. (Fall was 9 of 10 from the line.) Killen’s pair gave SMU its final margin with 15 seconds remaining.

Fall had a career-high 19 points, with two dunks – one, a two-handed beauty with his back to the basket. Derrick Roberts had 17 points, including a clutch 3 in the first OT that pulled SMU to within one when it looked like UTEP might put it away. A Killen 3 with 31 seconds left knotted the score at 86, requiring the second bonus frame.

Papa Dia fouled out with 10 points and eight rebounds with 5:59 left in regulation. Paulius Ritter, with a career-high nine points, followed Dia to the bench with 2:49 to play.

Marvin Kilgore led UTEP scorers with 28 points. Tavaris Watts added 18.

Deja UAB?

Killen’s shake-and-bake drive and lay-up at the halftime buzzer had SMU within two points, 38-36, and, like last week against UAB, the underdog Mustangs looked capable of an upset. Then, like last week, SMU began to fade after the break.

With the Mustangs committing almost a turnover a minute, UTEP built a 63-50 lead during the first 10 minutes of the second half.

A joyous Doherty conducted the Mustang Band briefly after SMU ended its five-game losing streak. "I was pretty good, wasn't I?" Doherty asked. "I think I had a pretty good beat. I got skills."

But SMU would have zero turnovers the rest of the way. And, oh, yeah, Killen got hot, repeatedly nailing big 3s and finally tying the score at 73 with 3:40 left in regulation.

Killen hit 7 of 11 3-point attempts and was 4-4 from the line. All but four of his points came after halftime and he played the entire 50 minutes. “We had a great crowd and it was a necessity,” Killen said of his marathon outing. “It’s not something you really want to be thinking about.”

“You just play through it and you have so much adrenaline when it’s a tight game.”

Doherty said he had recently challenged Killen by reminding him of top scorers, Robert Vaden of UAB and Robert McKiver of Houston, who average more playing time than him. “Fatigue? No excuse,” Doherty said he told Killen. “You gotta step it up.”

SMU out-rebounded UTEP, 38-36, and, for just the third time in league play this year, the Mustangs won the battle for offensive boards (14-12)

SMU made 22 of 28 free throws (78 percent) to UTEP’s 21 of 33 (63 percent).

Jackson Stopped

Though Jackson finished with 27 points, Roberts allowed him no points in OT.

“I just had one thing in mind,” Roberts said. “My goal was to make his life … pretty much miserable on the offensive end. Anytime he caught [the ball] I wanted to make him feel uncomfortable.”

Jackson came in averaging 34.5 points over his last two games.

SMU’s largest lead during regulation was three points with 2:22 left in the second half. The Mustangs still clung to a three-point edge after Malone’s jumper with 45 seconds left set the stage for Jackson’s dagger 3.

Doherty called SMU’s effort in last Wednesday’s 28-point loss at ECU “lifeless.”

Said Killen, “We just played a bad game. We didn’t have a lot of energy, couldn’t make shots. Defense was bad. It was just a bad all-around game.

Roberts called it “embarrassing.”

Killen said, in preparation for UTEP, the Mustangs had an early morning practice on Friday and another “intense” session before the game on Saturday.

“It wasn’t the normal walk-through that we would have done,” Killen said. “We were ready to go ... like it was a regular practice.”

“I think that sparked us [in] getting ready,” he said.

Next Two for SMU:

• Wednesday, March 5, vs. No. 2 Memphis, 7 p.m.

• Saturday, March 8, at Rice, 2 p.m.

Quotable Doherty:

• On whether to foul late with a 3-point lead: “It’s tricky.” … “I’m of the feeling that you could lose a game. The worst you can do [by not fouling] is go into overtime.”

• On Killen’s development: “It’s an amazing story, really. Jon Killen, I don’t think was thinking he’d have a big role in college basketball as a sophomore. And he transformed his game. Now he’s one of the better players in the league.”

• On Dia: “Papa Dia has not been real sharp. He still gets 10 [points] and eight [rebounds]. I mean, I can’t believe that. He can get 10 and 8 by showing up.” … “He doesn’t know how good he can be.”

SMU Basketball Notes:

• Killen now ranks third in C-USA in 3s made per game (2.56) behind UAB’s Vaden (4.54) and Houston’s McKiver (4.25).

• SMU last beat the Miners at UTEP on March 1, 2003, 65-43.

• Freshman Brett Holland (with one minute of playing time, previously) and sophomore Cameron Spencer earned their first starts of the season on Saturday.

• Attendance for SMU-UTEP – 3,844.

• Seniors Killen, Ritter and Roberts will be honored before the Memphis game on Wednesday.