March 8, 2006

Final Stats | Quotes | Notes

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Devon Pearson and Donatas Rackauskas scored 15 points each to lead SMU to a 61-59 victory over Rice in the opening round of the Conference USA tournament Wednesday.

The Mustangs (13-15) will face No. 24 UAB, the tournament's No. 2 seed, on Thursday.

Bryan Hopkins, SMU's leading scorer, was held scoreless for the first time this season after missing all seven of his shots, but he grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds and had six assists.

Morris Almond, a C-USA first team all-conference selection, led the Rice (12-16) with 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting and hit three of his four shots outside the arc. His 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left cut the SMU lead to the final two-point margin.

J.R. Harrison added 13 for Owls.

SMU led throughout the second half, but never by more than six points.

The two teams were tied at 46 when the Rice's Cory Pflieger connected for his only points of the game on a 3-pointer with 6:26 left in the game. Pearson helped the Mustangs pull away down the stretch with a streak of 8 points.

SMU jumped out to an early lead thanks to Rackauskas, who scored 6 of the Mustang's first 8 points. But SMU went more than five minutes without scoring, allowing the Owls to score 10 straight points.

SMU shot 50 percent in the first half, but was hampered by 13 turnovers, leading to 13 Rice points. The Mustangs committed 21 turnovers in the game.

GAME NOTES FOR UAB: The SMU Mustangs (13-15) face 24th ranked and No. 2 seed UAB (22-5) in the Conference USA Championship presented by Aeropostale at the FedEx Forum in Memphis on Thursday at Noon. The game is televised on CSTV. The Mustangs won their first round matchip against the Rice Owls (12-16) 61-59

The Mustangs are 18-29 all-time in conference tournaments since 1976 (Conference USA, Western Athletic Conference and Southwest Conference). This is the first time for SMU in the Conference USA Championship. The Mustangs have one conference tournament title, winning the Southwest Conference tournament in 1988. The Mustangs are 0-7 against ranked foes in league tournaments.

INFO AGAINST UAB: This is just the third meeting between the two teams. The most recent was a 73-68 triumph for UAB in Dallas on Feb. 25.. The previous meeting was a 79-63 SMU victory in the second round of Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Dec. 29, 1983. The Mustangs knocked off Duke 78-76 in the first round and defeated Hawaii 82-73 for the title.

PREVIOUS MEETING WITH UAB: Feb. 25 (Moody Coliseum) DALLAS (AP) - Marvett McDonald scored a game-high and career-high 39 points and shot 8-of-12 from 3-point range to lead Alabama-Birmingham to a 73-68 win over SMU on Saturday night. Richard Jones added 10 points for the Blazers (20-5, 10-2 Conference USA) and Carldell Johnson added the team's only other 3-point shot. UAB led 31-30 at the half. The Blazers shot 41 percent from the field to SMU's 37 percent. Devon Pearson led SMU (12-14, 4-9) with 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Bamba Fall added 14 points for the Mustangs and made 10 of 10 free throws, becoming the 11th SMU player to hit all free throw attempts in a game. Derrick Roberts had 11 points for the Mustangs. Bryan Hopkins had a game-high and season-high eight assists.

SMU VS. RANKED FOES IN LEAGUE TOURNAMENTS: Mustangs are 0-7 in conference tournaments against ranked foes. Mar. 2, 1978 vs. [4] Arkansas (Houston, Texas) L, 94-73 (SWC Postseason Classic) Mar. 11, 1983 [1] Houston (Reunion Arena) L, 75-59 (SWC Postseason Classic) Mar. 9, 1990 [9] Arkansas (Reunion Arena) L, 61-84 (SWC Postseason Classic) 1991 [23] Texas (Reunion Arena) L, 82-74 (SWC Postseason Classic) Mar. 6, 1997 vs. [3] Utah (Las Vegas, Nev.) L, 59-58 (WAC Tournament) Mar. 4, 1998 vs. [13] TCU (Las Vegas, Nev.) L, 71-69 (WAC Tournament) Mar. 4, 1999 vs. [25] New Mexico (Las Vegas, Nev.) L, 57-56 (WAC Tournament)

NOTES FROM WIN OVER RICE (61-59) INDIVIDUAL Bryan Hopkins - Had game-high six (6) assists and has 19 in his last three games; 8 against UAB 2/25, 5 at Rice 3/4, and 6 vs. Rice 3/8 - Moved into eighth at SMU in career assists (391) passing Troy Matthews (387); seventh is Kato Armstrong (403) - Had a season and game-high 10 rebounds (career high is 11 at Louisiana Tech 1/3/2004) - Had one (1) steal to increase SMU career record to 224 - The Rice game was his 100th career start (seventh most at SMU) Jon Killen - Eight (8) points tied career high (Rice 3/5/2005) - Four (4) rebounds tied career high (TCU 12/30/2005) Brian Morris - Three (3) blocks set career high Devon Pearson - Co-team-high 15 points (SMU is 4-1 when he leads or co-leads in scoring) - 8th time this season with 15+points Donatas Rackauskas - 15 points tied career high (Hardin-Simmons 12/10/05) and was co-team high - Seven (7) FGM and 11 FGA tied career highs (Hardin-Simmons 12/10/05) - 7-for-11 (.636) tied career high FG Pct. (Hardin-Simmons 12/10/05) - Eight (8) rebounds was his most since 10 against Toledo 11/27/2005 Dez Willingham - Second straight four (4) assist game TEAM - 11 steals was fourth most this season - SMU's third when win scoring less than 70 (52-49 TCU, 58-53 Southern Miss)

LAST TIME: Won two games in a league tournament (WAC 1999 - defeated UTEP and UNLV before losing to #25 New Mexico in the semifinal) Advanced to a semifinal (WAC 1999 - defeated UTEP and UNLV before losing to #25 New Mexico in the semifinal)

C-USA FIRST ROUND (SMU 61, RICE 59): MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Devon Pearson and Donatas Rackauskas scored 15 points each to lead SMU to a 61-59 victory over Rice in the opening round of the Conference USA tournament Wednesday. The Mustangs (13-15) will face No. 24 UAB, the tournament's No. 2 seed, on Thursday. Bryan Hopkins, SMU's leading scorer, was held scoreless for the first time this season after missing all seven of his shots, but he grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds and had six assists. Morris Almond, a C-USA first team all-conference selection, led the Rice (12-16) with 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting and hit three of his four shots outside the arc. His 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left cut the SMU lead to the final two-point margin. J.R. Harrison added 13 for Owls. SMU led throughout the second half, but never by more than six points. The two teams were tied at 46 when the Rice's Cory Pflieger connected for his only points of the game on a 3-pointer with 6:26 left in the game. Pearson helped the Mustangs pull away down the stretch with a streak of 8 points. SMU jumped out to an early lead thanks to Rackauskas, who scored 6 of the Mustang's first 8 points. But SMU went more than five minutes without scoring, allowing the Owls to score 10 straight points. SMU shot 50 percent in the first half, but was hampered by 13 turnovers, leading to 13 Rice points. The Mustangs committed 21 turnovers in the game.