SMU Holds Off UTEP, 55-46
Dec 30 | Men's Basketball
DALLAS (SMU) -- The SMU Mustangs moved to 2-0 in Western Athletic Conference play on Sunday, Dec. 30, as they held off the visiting UTEP Miners, 55-46.
The game was tight throughout, with neither squad able to get into much of a rhythm as indicated by the combined 43 turnovers and sub-40 percent combined shooting.
SMU led through much of the first half and held the lead until UTEP's Chris Neal hit a three-pointer with 13:54 left in the game to give the Miners a 33-32 edge.
SMU quickly rallied, however, and took the lead for good at 35-33 on a thunderous breakaway dunk by freshman high-flyer Justin Isham with 12:29 left in the game.
Quinton Ross paced the Ponies' attack with 13 points and seven rebounds to lead a group of four Mustangs in double figures.
Kris Lowe tied his career high with 11 points, while Patrick Simpson and Damon Hancock each added 10.
With the win, SMU goes to 7-5, 2-0 in WAC play, while UTEP falls to 5-8, 0-2 in conference action.
SMU has now won eight of the last 10 meetings versus UTEP and opens conference play with a 2-0 mark for the third straight season.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS UTEP vs SMU Mustangs 12/30/01 4:30 p.m. at Moody Coliseum, Dallas, Texas -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: UTEP 5-8, 0-2 WAC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 05 Smallwood, Roy...... * 6-8 0-1 2-2 2 4 6 5 14 1 5 1 1 33 11 Martin, Luke........ * 3-8 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 1 6 4 2 0 3 33 15 Jarrell, Antone..... * 1-4 1-4 1-2 1 4 5 4 4 2 2 0 0 22 25 Costello, Eugene.... * 1-3 1-2 1-3 1 1 2 3 4 2 5 1 5 36 35 Stewart, Brian...... * 3-11 0-0 2-2 1 4 5 4 8 2 1 1 0 31 12 Neal, Chris......... 2-8 2-5 0-0 0 2 2 2 6 1 3 0 0 20 20 Luces, Victor....... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 1 10 21 Devance, Joe........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 50 Victoriano, Justino. 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 3 4 0 4 0 1 14 TEAM................ 3 1 4 Totals.............. 18-47 4-15 6-9 9 21 30 23 46 14 23 3 11 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-25 40.0% 2nd Half: 8-22 36.4% Game: 38.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 26.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 66.7% 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: SMU Mustangs 7-5, 2-0 WAC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 01 Simpson, Patrick.... * 4-7 0-1 2-2 2 6 8 2 10 0 2 4 0 28 04 Hancock, Damon...... * 2-15 1-5 5-11 1 3 4 4 10 2 6 0 2 32 13 Ross, Quinton....... * 5-11 1-5 2-4 2 5 7 3 13 1 6 1 1 34 21 Castro, Eric........ * 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 9 24 Lowe, Kris.......... * 4-5 0-0 3-5 4 1 5 0 11 0 1 0 1 30 03 Isham, Justin....... 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 4 0 1 1 3 19 25 Freeman, Johnnie.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 33 Kelley, Jibran...... 1-2 0-0 1-2 2 3 5 1 3 0 0 1 1 19 40 Pharis, Billy....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 50 Smith, Nigel........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 7 55 Niemi, Mike......... 0-3 0-0 2-2 2 1 3 0 2 1 2 1 0 19 Team................ 1 1 Totals.............. 19-48 2-11 15-26 15 22 37 14 55 4 20 8 8 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-27 37.0% 2nd Half: 9-21 42.9% Game: 39.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 18.2% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 8-9 88.9% 2nd Half: 7-17 41.2% Game: 57.7% 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Tom O'Neill (R), Dan Chrisman, Steve Olson Technical fouls: UTEP-None. SMU Mustangs-None. Attendance: 2528 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total UTEP.......................... 24 22 - 46 SMU Mustangs.................. 29 26 - 55 Points in the paint-UTEP 18,SMU 28. Points off turnovers-UTEP 19,SMU 21. 2nd chance points-UTEP 11,SMU 16. Fast break points-UTEP 0,SMU 4. Bench points-UTEP 10,SMU 11. Score tied-4 times. Lead changes-10 times.
