SMU Handles Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, 101-72
Dec 20 | Men's Basketball
Expected to earn an easy victory of Division II Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in the opening round of the San Juan Shootout, the heavily favored Mustangs only led by four at the half before a second-half defensive explosion helped SMU earn a 101-72 victory Wednesday afternoon.
Senior G Jeryl Sasser recorded his second straight double-double with a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, along with three assists, two blocks and one steal. Freshman G Lavardicus Atkins came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting, including three from behind the arch.
Mayaguez (0-6) stayed close in the first 20 minutes by grabbing 11 offensive rebounds and took the lead twice before the break on timely three-point shooting. With each team making 13-of-36 field goals in the first half, it was four free throws from junior G Damon Hancock that gave SMU its 39-35 halftime lead. Hancock, who was averaged 20.1 points coming into the game, scored only nine points and failed to reach double figures for the first time this season.
The second half was a different story as SMU turned up the defensive pressure and quickly took command of the game. The Mustangs' 1-3-1 zone and man defense generated nine steals and forced 12 turnovers while igniting the offense -- especially senior G/F Willie Davis and sophomore G Quinton Ross.
"We gave them a lot of confidence by allowing them to penetrate the lane and grab offense rebounds, and they hit their shots -- especially their No. 4 Luis Hilerio (21 points, all on three pointers)," said sixth-year head coach Mike Dement. "Our defense really picked it up in the second half allowing us to get our transition game going by getting steals and forcing turnovers which led to fast-break points."
Davis, who had just three points at the intermission, scored 15 in the second half on 7-of-10 shooting and finished with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Ross scored 12 of his 16 points in the second frame and shot .667 (6-of-9) for the game.
The Ponies improved to 7-1 on the season and scored 100 points in a game for the 52nd time -- holding a 48-4 record in those games -- and for the first time since posting 104 against UTEP back on Jan. 20, 2000.
SMU will face Virginia Commonwealth (7-3) at Noon (CT) Thursday in the second round. VCU advanced with a 90-82 win over Evansville and was led by Willie Taylor who scored 41 points on 15-of-19 shooting, including 7-of-10 from three-point range.
Official Basketball Box Score
SMU Mustangs vs Puerto Rico-Mayaguez
12-20-00 2:00 pm at Guillermo Arena (Carolina, Puerto Rico)
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VISITORS: SMU Mustangs 7-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 Hancock, Damon...... * 2-6 0-2 5-6 1 4 5 1 9 2 0 0 1 28
05 Sasser, Jeryl....... * 6-15 2-5 6-8 3 7 10 2 20 3 0 2 1 30
13 Ross, Quinton....... * 6-9 1-2 3-6 1 2 3 1 16 1 0 0 2 28
33 Kelley, Jibran...... * 2-6 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 4 0 3 1 0 13
34 Davis, Willie....... * 8-14 0-0 2-4 2 2 4 2 18 3 1 0 3 22
23 Atkins, Lavardicus.. 4-4 3-3 0-0 0 0 0 3 11 3 0 0 1 16
24 Lowe, Kris.......... 2-4 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 2 5 2 3 1 2 10
43 Floyd, DeWayne...... 3-5 0-0 2-2 0 6 6 3 8 0 3 0 1 25
54 Forinash, Jon....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 7
55 Niemi, Mike......... 4-6 0-0 0-2 3 4 7 0 8 1 3 2 0 21
Team................ 4 3 7
Totals.............. 38-71 7-14 18-28 14 33 47 16 101 15 13 6 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-36 36.1% 2nd Half: 25-35 71.4% Game: 53.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 4-6 66.7% Game: 50.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-16 62.5% 2nd Half: 8-12 66.7% Game: 64.3% 6
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HOME TEAM: Puerto Rico-Mayaguez 0-6
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Melendez, Flor...... * 1-5 0-1 0-0 2 0 2 2 2 0 3 0 0 12
07 Velazquez, John..... * 2-7 0-1 1-2 0 5 5 4 5 4 2 1 0 35
15 Emmanueli, Juan..... * 8-15 0-0 4-4 0 3 3 3 20 0 2 1 1 33
34 Monge, Moises....... * 2-6 0-0 1-3 2 6 8 2 5 0 1 0 0 35
44 Ruiz, Victor........ * 3-7 2-5 0-0 2 1 3 4 8 5 3 0 1 29
02 Acevedo, Guillermo.. 1-5 0-1 0-1 2 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 12
04 Hilerio, Luis D..... 7-13 7-12 0-0 0 1 1 2 21 2 2 1 0 26
14 Perez, Jorge I...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
23 Llovet, Francisco... 3-10 0-1 3-4 0 3 3 4 9 0 3 0 0 17
Team................ 6 4 10
Totals.............. 27-69 9-21 9-14 14 23 37 21 72 11 17 3 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-36 36.1% 2nd Half: 14-33 42.4% Game: 39.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-10 30.0% 2nd Half: 6-11 54.5% Game: 42.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-9 66.7% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 64.3% 0
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Officials: John Hampton, Tim Cleguerty, Anibal Garcia
Technical fouls: SMU Mustangs-None. Puerto Rico-Mayaguez-None.
Attendance: 200
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
SMU Mustangs.................. 39 62 - 101
Puerto Rico-Mayaguez.......... 35 37 - 72
