SMU Routs UT-Pan American, 97-67
Dec 29 | Men's Basketball
Oklahoma City, Okla. (SMU) - Senior G Jeryl Sasser led four Mustangs in double figures and scored a season-high 25 points along with a career-high seven steals to lead SMU in a 97-67 win over Texas-Pan American in the first round of the Touchstone Energy All-College Tournament at the Myriad in Oklahoma City Friday night.
Sasser and Broncs' senior G Brian Merriweather put on a show for the crowd as they combined for 47 points in a head-to-head match up on both sides of the floor.
"Jeryl [Sasser] played a complete game tonight and played tough defense," sixth-year head coach Mike Dement said. "He did an excellent job of making Merriweather work for his shots and hustled to fight through screens. I thought he [Merriweather] had a tough night but still went for 23 points - that shows what a great scorer he is for them."
SMU (9-2) forced a season-high 24 turnovers against UT-Pan American (4-7) as a team, and made a season-high 14 steals in the victory. Sophomore G Quinton Ross continued his outstanding play with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting - marking his fourth straight game going 6-9 from the field. Damon Hancock and Willie Davis, who battled 28 minutes with a pulled hamstring, rounded out SMU's double-figure scorers with 17 and 10 points respectively. Junior F DeWayne Floyd led the Mustangs with seven rebounds.
The Broncs took an early 9-6 lead behind five points from Merriweather, but SMU, led by Sasser's seven points, quickly erased the deficit with a 16-0 run - 20-3 overall over the next 7:14 - to take command of the game 26-12. SMU took a 42-26 lead into the halftime break.
"Defense is such an important part of my game that I cannot let it take away from me offensively," Sasser said of his match-up with Merriweather. "You cannot shut a player like Brian down, I just wanted to make sure I had a had in his face all night."
Sasser also dished out seven assists on the night while Hancock chipped in four. The Mustangs shot 53 percent from the field (32-of-60) and 70 percent from the line as a team, and were led by Hancock's 7-for-11 night from the stripe.
SMU will face either No. 17 Oklahoma or Oral Roberts in tomorrow's championship game that tips at 8:15 p.m. Cox Cable will televise the game locally and KSKY AM-660 will broadcast the game back to Dallas.
Official Basketball Box Score
UT-Pan American vs Southern Methodist
12/29/00 6 p.m. at The Myriad (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
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VISITORS: UT-Pan American 4-7
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 Joey Tate........... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 11
21 Kyle Sanders........ f 1-1 0-0 2-2 2 1 3 3 4 0 3 0 1 26
22 Terrell Hill........ c 3-7 0-1 4-8 3 9 12 5 10 0 1 1 1 32
23 Brian Merriweather.. g 8-18 5-13 2-2 3 0 3 1 23 1 2 0 0 36
32 Mire Chatman........ g 4-16 1-5 1-1 1 6 7 2 10 2 5 0 3 26
00 Reggie Kuzet........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
01 Kwasinda Curtis..... 0-1 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 4 1 4 4 1 0 13
03 James Davis......... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3
11 John Braxton........ 5-10 0-3 2-2 2 0 2 4 12 0 4 0 2 23
15 Matt Hall........... 1-1 1-1 0-2 0 1 1 2 3 0 2 0 0 10
40 Marcus Quinn........ 1-3 0-0 0-1 2 1 3 1 2 1 1 0 0 15
52 DeFrance Gurley..... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 3
TEAM................ 4 2 6 1
Totals.............. 24-60 7-23 12-20 18 23 41 25 67 8 24 2 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-29 31.0% 2nd Half: 15-31 48.4% Game: 40.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-13 30.8% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 30.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 8-13 61.5% Game: 60.0% 2
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HOME TEAM: Southern Methodist 9-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
34 Davis, Willie....... f 3-9 1-2 3-4 1 4 5 1 10 1 1 0 1 28
55 Niemi, Mike......... f 2-4 1-1 2-2 0 1 1 2 7 0 0 0 0 15
04 Hancock, Damon...... g 5-10 0-1 7-11 0 4 4 3 17 4 2 0 1 27
05 Sasser, Jeryl....... g 9-17 2-7 5-8 3 1 4 1 25 7 1 0 7 35
13 Ross, Quinton....... g 6-9 3-5 3-3 1 2 3 2 18 1 3 1 0 26
02 Nedd, Andre......... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
11 Heath, Jayson....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
21 Vasquez, Mike....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
23 Atkins, Lavardicus.. 1-3 0-2 2-2 0 1 1 3 4 1 1 0 3 16
24 Lowe, Kris.......... 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 11
25 Willson, David...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
33 Kelley, Jibran...... 2-2 0-0 2-3 3 2 5 5 6 2 1 0 1 14
43 Floyd, DeWayne...... 3-5 0-0 0-0 1 5 6 1 6 1 1 0 1 20
54 Forinash, Jon....... 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 5
TEAM................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 32-60 7-18 26-37 11 24 35 20 97 18 12 1 14 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-28 46.4% 2nd Half: 19-32 59.4% Game: 53.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% Game: 38.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 13-19 68.4% 2nd Half: 13-18 72.2% Game: 70.3% 5
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Officials: Mike Thibodeaux, Bob Sitov, Kerry Siton
Technical fouls: UT-Pan American-, TEAM. Southern Methodist-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
UT-Pan American............... 26 41 - 67
Southern Methodist............ 42 55 - 97
Sasser - career high steals
Ross - 4th straight game shooting 6-of-9 from the field.
