Mustangs Fall to No. 6 Tennessee, 85-76
Dec 7 | Men's Basketball
Unranked SMU jumped out to a 14-point first-half lead against the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers and controlled the game for 30 minutes but was outscored 18-7 over the last 7:46 to fall 85-76 in front of 12,976 at the Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn., Thursday night.
"We didn't make any shots down the stretch," sixth-year head coach Mike Dement said. "We got to the line, but missed our free throws - limiting our ability to attack defensively. We didn't defend as well in the second half and they [Tennessee] spread the floor and got inside for easy baskets."
Senior G Jeryl Sasser led four Mustangs in double figures and scored a team-high 20 points with 12 rebounds - Damon Hancock scored 17 with three assists and six rebounds, Willie Davis added 16 points with eight rebounds and Quinton Ross chipped in 14 points. But the Pony attack became too guard oriented, Dement said, with only three points and eight points from the front court. Junior Mike Niemi scored three points and sophomore Jibran Kelley grabbed eight rebounds to led the Mustang big men.
SMU (4-1) shot 86 percent (12-of-14) from the free throw line but just 42 percent (5-of-12) in the second half as only Niemi (1-4) and Sasser (4-8) could get to the charity stripe.
"Our better free throw shooters were able to get to the line late in the game," Dement said, " but didn't convert and we have to make those plays to win ball games like this."
Tennessee (8-0) had five players score 10 or more points and were led by Ron Slay's game- and career-high 22 points off the bench in 25 minutes. Senior Tony Harris scored 18 points and eight assists in his head-to-head match-up with Hancock.
The Mustangs conclude their two-game road trip in Annapolis, Md., Saturday afternoon when they face Navy. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. SMU will take a week off for exams before hosting Houston, Sunday, Dec. 17 at 4 p.m., then will travel to Puerto Rico for the San Juan Shootout Dec. 20-22.
Official Basketball Box Score
SMU Mustangs vs [6] Tennessee Volunteers
12/7/00 6:05 pm CT at Thompson-Boling (Knoxville, Tenn.)
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VISITORS: SMU Mustangs 4-1
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...... * 6-17 0-5 5-6 1 5 6 3 17 3 2 0 0 39
05 Sasser, Jeryl....... * 5-14 2-5 8-13 5 7 12 5 20 3 2 0 0 32
13 Ross, Quinton....... * 6-10 2-5 0-0 3 2 5 3 14 2 6 0 2 34
33 Kelley, Jibran...... * 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 1 0 2 0 0 0 22
34 Davis, Willie....... * 7-15 1-4 1-1 2 6 8 3 16 0 3 0 2 38
23 Atkins, Lavardicus.. 2-3 0-1 2-2 0 1 1 2 6 0 0 0 0 10
24 Lowe, Kris.......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
43 Floyd, DeWayne...... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 1 0 7
50 Smith, Nigel........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
55 Niemi, Mike......... 1-1 0-0 1-4 0 1 1 4 3 0 0 0 0 12
Team................ 3 2 5
Totals.............. 27-64 5-21 17-26 15 31 46 25 76 10 13 2 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-30 46.7% 2nd Half: 13-34 38.2% Game: 42.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-11 27.3% 2nd Half: 2-10 20.0% Game: 23.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 12-14 85.7% 2nd Half: 5-12 41.7% Game: 65.4% 5
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HOME TEAM: [6] Tennessee Volunteers 8-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
14 Harris, Tony........ * 6-15 4-11 2-4 1 2 3 2 18 8 2 0 1 37
22 Yarbrough, Vincent.. * 4-12 1-4 1-4 4 8 12 2 10 5 1 1 1 36
42 Higgins, Jon........ * 1-7 1-6 0-0 2 1 3 4 3 4 0 0 0 30
44 Victor, Isiah....... * 5-11 0-1 2-5 3 6 9 2 12 1 1 1 0 24
55 Hathaway, Charles... * 1-1 0-0 1-1 0 1 1 1 3 0 2 2 0 20
02 Grindstaff, Jenis... 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 3 0 2 0 0 0 5
05 Walker, Harris...... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
12 Haislip, Marcus..... 6-8 2-4 0-0 1 1 2 4 14 0 1 1 1 11
31 Woods, Terrence..... 1-2 0-0 1-1 0 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 7
35 Slay, Ron........... 6-10 1-1 9-14 3 3 6 3 22 2 1 0 0 25
Team................ 1 3 4
Totals.............. 30-70 9-27 16-29 16 26 42 22 85 22 9 5 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-39 35.9% 2nd Half: 16-31 51.6% Game: 42.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-11 27.3% 2nd Half: 6-16 37.5% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-9 55.6% 2nd Half: 11-20 55.0% Game: 55.2% 6
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Officials: U: Kerry Sitton; R: J.B. Caldwell, Bert Smith
Technical fouls: SMU Mustangs-Sasser, Jeryl. [6] Tennessee Volunteers-,
Slay, Ron.
Attendance: 12967
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
SMU Mustangs.................. 86 33 - 119
[6] Tennessee Volunteers...... 72 49 - 121
