Nov. 15, 2009
This Game:
TEXAS A&M Aggies (1-0) at SMU Mustangs (0-1) - Mon. Nov. 16 - 7 p.m. - Moody Coliseum - Radio: KAAM 770 AM - Internet: SMUMustangs.com
The SMU Mustangs play their second straight home game to open the season as Texas A&M comes to Moody Coliseum on Monday at 7 p.m. The Ponies look to even their record after a 67-61 loss to South Florida in the season-opener on Friday.
This is the first time Texas A&M has come to Moody Coliseum since March 2, 1996, when SMU earned a 75-72 win over the Aggies in the teams' final matchup in the Southwest Conference. Last season's meeting in College Station, a 66-56 SMU loss, was the first meeting since the SWC ended. SMU holds a 90-86 lead in the series and a 23-8 advantage in games played at Moody Coliseum.
THE SERIES: SMU is 90-86 against Texas A&M dating back to the 1918-19 season. SMU holds a 60-24 record at home, including a 23-8 lead in games at Moody Coliseum. The two squads played in the Southwest Conference from 1918-19 through the 1995-96 season with SMU recording a 85-81 edge in league games.
LAST SEASON (D14, 2008 at TAMU): COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Josh Carter scored 14 points, Bryan Davis grabbed 11 rebounds and Texas A&M defeated SMU 66-56. Robert Nyakundi led SMU with a season-high 18 points. He hit two 3-pointers as the Mustangs took an early 8-2 lead, but the Aggies (9-1) came back and led 37-27 at the half. It was Nyakundi's first start for the Mustangs. A 3-pointer by Carter, a steal and a layup by Carter and two inside baskets by David Loubeau gave A&M a 50-42 lead only two minutes after SMU had pulled to within one at 41-40 with 11:09 left. SMU (3-5) fought its way back into the game, but a 3-pointer by B.J. Holmes gave the Aggies a 62-51 lead with 1:39 left. Derek Williams scored seven points and had a game-high six assists for SMU. Mouhammad Faye made his SMU debut and finished with nine points, three rebounds, two steals, and an assist in 24 minutes off the bench. Bamba Fall had two blocked shots, five rebounds and a team-high seven rebounds. Papa Dia also had seven boards in 13 minutes. SMU had just three turnovers in the second half and finished the game with 11 total. SMU also had 20 offensive rebounds and outscored the Aggies 15-13 on second-chance points. Texas A&M finished with a 43-40 rebounding edge.
LAST GAME: DALLAS (AP) - Center Augustus Gilchrist had team-leading totals of 23 points and nine rebounds to guide South Florida past SMU 67-61 in both teams' season opener Friday night at Moody Coliseum. Derek Williams led the Mustangs with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting. SMU led 32-29 at halftime and then 41-36 after a Mouhammad Faye layup with 16 minutes to play. Faye finished with 12 points, four rebounds, two blocks, and a steal. The Bulls got good production from their guards; Chris Howard had 14 points and seven assists, and Dominique Jones added 13 points and six assists. Papa Dia topped SMU with eight rebounds to go with six points. The teams finished even on the boards with 31 rebounds each. Paul McCoy had a game-high three steals with eight points, seven rebounds, and two assists.
THREE SIGNEES FOR 2010-11: SMU Head Coach Matt Doherty announced that three players have signed a National Letter-of-Intent to play for the Mustangs beginning with the 2010-11 season. Leslee Smith (6-7, 245) is a forward at Christian Life Center Academy in Humble, Texas; Ricmonds Vilde (6-4, 180) is a forward from Latvia now attending Lee Academy in Maine; and Aliaksei Patsevich (6-9, 230) is a guard from Belarus playing at Collin County Community College in Plano, Texas. All three members of the class have international experience. Smith helped his British Virgin Islands National Team to a silver medal at the 2009 FIBA Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championships. Patsevich and Vidle have played in European Championships. Patsevich is a freshman at Collin County and will have three years to play at SMU. "I think this recruiting class gives us a group of skilled players with some toughness and basketball savvy," says Doherty. "They are all tremendous people and should help us in our quest to become a Top-25 program once again. I am excited to coach each of these young men."
NOTES FROM THE OPENER VS. SOUTH FLORIDA:
1 - Papa Dia had a team-high eight rebounds; he had just four games eight rebounds last season.
2 - Derek Williams scored a team-high 19 points to extend his streak of double-figure scoring games to six.
3 - Mouhammad Faye had 12 points to extend his streak of double-figure scoring games to five.
QUICK TAKE
1 - Last season, a first-year player led the team in scoring in 27 of 30 games, which was the highest percentage in the nation. Paul McCoy led 12 times as a freshman, Derek Williams led in scoring 10 times as a junior, Mouhammad Faye three times as a junior, and Robert Nyakundi led twice as a redshirt freshman.
2 - Last season Paul McCoy led the team in scoring 12 times, tying the SMU record for a freshman. He averaged 13.4 points per game en route to becoming the first freshman to ever lead SMU in scoring. McCoy also earned two C-USA Rookie of the Week honors. McCoy was selected preseason All-Conference USA By Blue Ribbon Yearbook for the 2009-10 season.
3 - The Mustangs' roster was all recruited by head coach Matt Doherty, which includes a Conference USA All-Freshman Team honoree each of the last two seasons; Paul McCoy (2008-09) and Papa Dia (2007-08). McCoy anchored a class rated as high as No. 33 nationally and Dia headlined a class rated as high as No. 24.
4 - The Mustangs now feature a more experienced lineup with two seniors, five juniors, five sophomores and two freshmen. The squad lost just one starter in Bamba Fall, a Conference USA All-Defensive Team selection. Overall, the squad returns six of its top seven scorers and 83.1 percent of last season's scoring, 67.9 percent of its rebounding, 90.1 percent of its assists, and 89.4 percent of its steals.
5 - The Mustangs improved in 13 of 19 statistical categories ranked by Conference USA from 2007-08 to 2008-09, including scoring, scoring defense, overall and 3-point field goal percentage, overall and 3-point field goal percentage defense, and rebounding margin.
6 - SMU has made 589 three-pointers in head coach Matt Doherty's first three seasons. That is the best mark for any 3-year period in SMU history.
7 - Senior Mouhammad Faye played for Senegal's National Team in the 2009 African Games in Libya. The Senegalese went 5-4 to finish seventh in the championship after winning Group C in the opening stage and winning Group F in the qualifying round. Faye was seventh in the tournament at 17.3 points per game while averaging 3.8 rebounds and shooting 46.7 percent. Faye also played for the Senegalese National Team in 2007 with Bamba Fall (2009 graduate). The 2007 squad finished ninth in the championships in Angola.
8 - For the second season, the NBA's Dallas Mavericks held training camp at SMU's Crum Basketball Center.
9 - The 2009-10 schedule includes at least 11 games against 2009 postseason teams and a minimum of 10 games against last season's RPI top-100 including Memphis, Tulsa and UNLV. The Ponies host 17 home games at Moody Coliseum, including eight games against Conference USA foes. The season starts with six consecutive home games, beginning with South Florida on Nov. 13 and Texas A&M on Nov. 16. Metroplex rival TCU visits Moody Coliseum for the State Farm DFW Duel on Dec. 2.
10 - The 2009-10 slate includes the inaugural Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu from Dec. 22-25. The Ponies face UNLV on ESPNU in the opening round on Dec. 22. The Mustangs then face either College of Charleston or Hawaii on Dec. 23. The squad's third matchup will be Northeastern, Saint Mary's, USC or Western Michigan on Dec. 25.
11 - Captains: Mouhammad Faye, Derek Williams and Paul McCoy were named team captains prior to the start of practice.
STREAKS: 10+points: Derek Williams 6 (13*, 10*, 14*, 32*, 18*, 19), Mouhammad Faye 5 (12*, 18*, 10*, 10*, 12) 8+ rebounds: Papa Dia (8) Dbl-Dbl: 5+ assists: 3+ steals: Paul McCoy (3) 2+ blocks: Mouhammad Faye (2) *From 2008-09 Season
