Men Host Harvard Wed. at 7pm
Dec 28 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2005
The SMU Mustangs (5-4) begin a four-game homestand by hosting the Harvard Crimson at Moody Coliseum on Wednesday Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. The Ponies won the only previous meeting 81-80 in Moody Coliseum on Dec. 30, 1997. The Mustangs follow this game with archrival TCU in a nationally televised game by CSTV on Friday Dec. 30 at 8:30 p.m.
GAME 10: Harvard Location: Cambridge, Mass. Enrollment: 6,704 Conference: Ivy League Colors: Crimson, Black & White Arena: Lavietes Pavilion (2,050) President: Lawrence H. Summers Athletic Director: Robert L. Scalise Head Coach: Frank Sullivan Years At School/Overall: 15th /19th Assistant Coaches: Bill Holden, Lamar Reddicks Series Record: SMU leads 1-0 Web Site: www.GoCrimson.com
LAST GAME: LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - Justin Williams' 13 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots helped lift Wyoming to a 75-69 win over SMU Thursday night. The Mustangs went on a 10-2 run that pulled them within 73-69 with 16 seconds left, but Wyoming (6-4) held on with strong free-throw shooting down the stretch. The Cowboys shot better than 76 percent from the line, making 13 of their last 16 attempts. SMU (5-4) made only six of 16 free-throw attempts in the game, for 37.5 percent. Chris Anderson's 3-point play with 16:02 left gave the Cowboys their first double-digit lead of the game, putting them up 45-35. Bryan Hopkins scored seven straight points as the Mustangs answered with a 14-6 run that pulled them within 51-49 with 10:32 to go, but that was the closest they would get. Brandon Ewing led all Wyoming scorers in the game with 19 points, including nine of 10 from the free-throw line. Steve Leven scored 14, and Brad Jones added 12 for the Cowboys. Hopkins led SMU with 19 points. Derrick Roberts added 12, and Devon Pearson had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Neither team led by more than five points in the first half until Brad Jones' shot at the buzzer finished off a 7-0 Wyoming run that made it 36-29 at halftime. Ewing scored eight points in the first six minutes as the Cowboys outscored the Mustangs 10-5 to start the game. After that, the lead changed six times before Wyoming made its final run of the half.
HEAD COACH Jimmy Tubbs...is in his second season as the head coach of the Mustangs and has a 19-18 record. The Ponies were 14-14 in his inaugural campaign. The team finished 9-9 in conference action and improved in every statistical category highlighted by finishing 48th in the nation at 8.6 steals per game. He spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach on the Hilltop before spending the last two seasons as an assistant under Kelvin Sampson at Oklahoma. As a college assistant, his SMU and Oklahoma squads combined for a 213-194 record. The Sooners won the 2003 Big 12 tournament, and the Mustangs won the 1993 Southwest Conference title and earned a postseason NIT bid in 2000. Prior to his first stint at SMU, he spent eight seasons as the head coach at Dallas Kimball High School compiling a 232-42 record and the 1990 state championship.
TUBBS RECORD Season Total Home Away Neutral Overall 2004-05 14-14 10-4 4-9 0-1 2005-06 5-4 4-1 1-3 Total 19-18 14-5 5-12 0-1
Conference 2004-05 (WAC) 9-9 6-3 3-6 2005-06 (C-USA) Total 9-9 6-3 3-6
SCHEDULE ADJUSTMENT: The SMU men's basketball home game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Moody Coliseum has been moved to Tuesday, Jan. 3, at 7 p.m. CST. The game had been scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 4, at 8 p.m. CST and was to be aired by CSTV. The game is being moved to avoid conflict with the BCS Championship game on Jan. 4. The Mustangs' previous game is at home against TCU on Dec. 30 while Oklahoma's is a home game against Alabama on Dec. 31.
RADIO: Every SMU regular season and postseason game is on KAAM 770 AM. Rich Phillips, Allen Stone and Jay Poerner bring the action and all the latest news on the Mustangs and Conference USA.
NCAA RANKINGS (ALL GAMES - Through Dec. 19) INDIVIDUAL: FT Pct. (min. 2 FTM/gm) t-46th Morris .875 (21-24) TEAM Rebounding Margin 24th +8.3
C-USA RANKINGS: (ALL GAMES - Through Dec. 26) INDIVIDUAL: Scoring 9th Roberts 14.1 15th Pearson 12.9 t-21st Willingham 12.0 Rebounding 3rd Pearson 8.2 7th Morris 6.2 17th Rackauskas 5.4 FG Pct. (min. 3 FGM/gm) 4th Morris .587 7th Rackauskas .536 Assists 15th Willingham 3.11 FT Pct. (min. 2 FTM/gm) 2nd ` Morris .875 (21-24) t-15th Willingham .721 (31-43) Steals 15h Pearson 1.56 3FG Pct. (min. 1 FGM/gm) 3PT FGM 11th Willingham 1.67 Blocked Shots t-8th Rackauskas 1.33 Ast./TO Ratio 5th Willingham 1.87 Offensive Rebounds 4th Pearson 3.33 10th Ofoegbu 2.44 t-13th Morris 2.33 t-13th Rackauskas 2.33 Defensive Rebounds 4th Pearson 4.89 12th Morris 3.89
TEAM Scoring Offense 5th 73.1 Scoring Defense 3rd 66.0 Scoring Margin 5th +7.1 FT Pct. 4th .674 FG Pct. 4th .459 FG Pct. Defense 10th .441 3Pt. FG Pct. 9th .306 3Pt. FG Pct. Defense 8th .362 Rebounding Offense 5th 36.9 Rebounding Defense 2nd 30.3 Rebounding Margin 2nd +6.6 Blocked Shots 3rd 4.56 Assists 9th 13.33 Steals 6th 8.00 Turnover Margin 5th +1.44 Ast./TO Ratio 3rd 1.03 Offensive Rebounds 2nd 15.22 Defensive Rebounds 10th 21.67 3PT FG Made 10th 4.56
SUCCESS INDICATORS: W L FG Pct. .523 .389 FTA 28.8 19.3 FT Pct. .750 .532 Assists 16.4 9.5
FREE THROW BONANZA - TEAM: The Mustangs are averaging 24.6 free throw attempts per game with a high of 41 against Centenary. Last season, SMU averaged 20 free throw attempts per game. The Mustangs have made 149 free throws compared with 167 attempts by their opponents. Brian Morris: The freshman hit 15 in a row at one point. His 10-of-10 against Long Island (11/29) was just the tenth time an SMU player had gone 10-for-10 or better. Dez Willingham: He hit 12 in a row earlier this season.
HOPKINS MOVING UP CAREER SCORING LIST: Bryan Hopkins continues to move up the career scoring list. He started the season in 16th with 1342 points. Points 1992 - Jeryl Sasser (117 games) - 1997-01 1932 - Gene Phillips (74 games) - 1968-71 1784 - Jon Koncak (123 games) - 1981-85 1761 - Quinton Ross (119 games) - 1999-03 1753 - Jim Krebs (82 games) - 1954-57 1715 - Ira Terrell (80 games) - 1972-76 1665 - Larry Davis (122 games) - 1981-85 1529 - Mike Wilson (85 games) - 1990-93 1482 - Damon Hancock (112 games) - 1998-02 1443 - Stephen Woods (112 games) - 1996-00 1380 - Bryan Hopkins (85 games) - 2002-06 1374 - David Piehler (112 games) - 1979-83 1363 - Tim Mason (112 games) - 1989-93 1350 - Willie Davis (109 games) - 1997-01 1349 - Jay Poerner (107 games) - 1994-98 1343 - Kato Armstrong (95 games) - 1985-89
SHOT SELECTION: Ike Ofoegbu has hit 9 of 10 FGs over the last four games.
RECORD SETTERS: Additions to the SMU record books. SMU Individual Records - Game Free Throw Percentage (Min. 10 attempts) - t-1st Brian Morris (10-10) Long Island 11/29/05 - 10th time an SMU player was 100% with 10+ FTA SMU Team Records - Game FG Percentage - 1st 69.4% (34-49) Savannah State 12/19/05, was 67.7 against Texas Tech 1/5/83
BLOCK PARTY: The Mustangs are averaging 4.6 blocks per game this season. That is up from 3.6 blocks per contest last season.
70+ USUALLY = W: The Mustangs are 5-0 this season when reaching 70 points and 0-4 when under 70 points. Under Tubbs 70+ <70 2004-05="" 12-3="" 2-11="" 2005-06="" 5-0="" 0-4="" 17-3="">
CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS: Best season rebound margin in SMU history +6.6 (36.9 to 30.3) 2005-06 +5.7 (48.5 to 42.8) 1959-60 +5.1 (32.9 to 27.8) 1988-89 +5.0 (46.5 to 41.5) 1958-59 +4.6 (38.1 to 33.5) 1984-85 +4.3 (43.3 to 39.0) 1999-00
FIVE & DIME: The Mustangs have had five players score in double figures three times this season, winning each time. 11/20 Centenary (W, 85-67): Devon Pearson 26, Derrick Roberts 14, Brian Morris 12, Dez Willingham 11, and Ike Ofoegbu 10. 11/29 Long Island (W, 74-62): Brian Morris 16, Devon Pearson 14, Dez Willingham 14, Brian Epps 11, Derrick Roberts 11 12/19 Savannah State (W, 89-46): Bryan Hopkins 19, Donatas Rackauskas 12, Brian Epps 11, Brian Morris 11, Dez Willingham 11
DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Devon Pearson (26 pts, 11 rebs) - Centenary 11/20 Brian Morris (16 pts, 11 rebs) - Long Island 11/29 Devon Pearson (14 pts, 14 rebs) - Long Island 11/29 Devon Pearson (10 pts, 10 rebs) - at Wyoming 12/22
DEPTH CHART: The Mustangs are using a larger rotation this year with at least nine players seeing action in each game.
