SMU Cannot Hold Off Nebraska in 72-70 Loss
Dec 22 | Men's Basketball
San Juan (Puerto Rico) - SMU held an eight-point lead with 7:50 to play after Jeryl Sasser converted two free throws, but watched the rebound from Damon Hancock's intentionally missed free throw with :02 left fall into the hands of Kimani Ffriend to give Nebraska a 72-70 win in the championship game of the San Juan Shootout Friday night.
Cookie Belcher scored 13 of his game-high 26 points over the final 7:50 of the game to lead the Cornhuskers (7-3) to their second San Juan Shootout title - Nebraska won the 1990 tournament. Ffriend scored 10 points with four rebounds along with four blocked shots, and Steffon Bradford added 16 points.
Nebraska, who shot 54 percent from the field in the game, jumped out to a 14-7 lead but SMU (8-2) went on a 21-10 run over the next nine minutes, behind nine points from freshman G Lavardicus Atkins, to take a 28-24 lead. SMU went into the break with a 40-34 lead.
SMU shot just 46 percent from the field but maintained its lead with another outstanding effort from the free throw line - shooting .765 from the line (13-of-17). Sophomore G Quinton Ross led the Mustangs with 15 points and added five rebounds and two assists. Damon Hancock (13), Jeryl Sasser (12) and DeWayne Floyd (11) also scored in double figures. Senior G/F Willie Davis struggled offensively with five points, but grabbed eight rebounds and had four steals.
The Mustangs will take three days off for the Christmas holiday before traveling to Oklahoma City for the Touchstone Energy All-College Tournament Dec. 29-30. SMU faces UT-Pan American Friday at 6:00 p.m., and will then meet either No. 16 Oklahoma or Oral Roberts Saturday.
All-Tournament Team
- Kimani Ffriend, Nebraska (MVP)
Cookie Belcher, Nebraska
Steffon Bradford, Nebraska
Quinton Ross, SMU
Jeryl Sasser, SMU
Willie Taylor, Virginia Commonwealth
Trevor Huffman, Kent State
Tavaras Hardy, Northwestern
Dyree Wilson, Iona
Dan Lytle, Evansville
Official Box Score
12-22-00 4:15 pm at Guillermo Arena (Carolina, Puerto Rico)_
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VISITORS: Nebraska Cornhuskers 7-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
10 Augustine, Kevin.... * 3-7 1-3 1-4 0 1 1 2 8 5 2 0 0 26
11 Fields, Rodney...... * 1-4 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 2 4 0 2 0 0 26
15 Bradford, Steffon... * 7-12 0-0 2-4 1 6 7 2 16 3 0 0 0 35
30 Belcher, Cookie..... * 8-13 3-6 7-8 1 3 4 4 26 4 2 0 3 37
31 Ffriend, Kimani..... * 5-7 0-0 0-2 1 3 4 3 10 1 3 4 1 39
02 Robinson, John...... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 3 3 2 4 0 0 19
03 Cochran, Cary....... 1-1 1-1 2-2 0 0 0 1 5 0 1 0 0 11
20 Conklin, Brian...... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 6
34 Worthmann, Craig.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Team................ 2 3 5 1
Totals.............. 26-48 6-13 14-22 6 19 25 18 72 16 16 4 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-26 57.7% 2nd Half: 11-22 50.0% Game: 54.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% Game: 46.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 14-22 63.6% Game: 63.6% 5
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HOME TEAM: SMU Mustangs 8-2
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...... * 5-14 2-6 1-2 1 3 4 4 13 1 5 0 0 29
05 Sasser, Jeryl....... * 5-13 0-2 2-3 3 3 6 3 12 5 2 0 0 39
13 Ross, Quinton....... * 6-9 2-4 1-2 2 3 5 4 15 2 1 0 1 40
34 Davis, Willie....... * 1-7 0-1 3-4 3 5 8 1 5 1 3 1 4 37
55 Niemi, Mike......... * 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 2 2 0 2 1 0 14
23 Atkins, Lavardicus.. 2-2 2-2 3-3 0 0 0 1 9 1 1 0 0 9
24 Lowe, Kris.......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2
33 Kelley, Jibran...... 1-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 8
43 Floyd, DeWayne...... 5-8 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 3 11 1 1 0 2 22
Team................ 4 2 6
Totals.............. 25-55 7-17 13-17 13 19 32 19 70 11 15 3 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-30 46.7% 2nd Half: 11-25 44.0% Game: 45.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 2-9 22.2% Game: 41.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-9 77.8% 2nd Half: 6-8 75.0% Game: 76.5% 2
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Officials: Albin Boria, Kay Chambers, Tim Lauger
Technical fouls: Nebraska Cornhuskers-None. SMU Mustangs-None.
Attendance: 100
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Nebraska Cornhuskers.......... 34 38 - 72
SMU Mustangs.................. 40 30 - 70
Nebraska wins the San Juan Shootout for the second time (1990).
SMU places Ross and Sasser on all-tournament team.
