M-Basketball: At Occidental Saturday At 4 p.m.
Dec 15 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 15, 2009
SMU Mustangs (3-3) at OCCIDENTAL Tigers (5-2) - Sat. Dec. 19 - 4 pm CT / 2 pm PT - Rush Gymnasium (2,000) - Los Angeles, Calif. - Radio: KAAM 770 AM (Allen Stone, Herman Hudson) - Internet: SMUMustangs.com
Complete Release in PDF Format 
The SMU Mustangs have their first road-trip of the season, going west for four games. The first road game of the season is at Occidental in Los Angeles on Dec. 19 at 4 p.m. CT/2 p.m. PT. The Mustangs then head to Honolulu for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Dec. 22-25. The next home game is Dec. 30 against Army. ALOHA MUSTANGS: The SMU football team and men's basketball teams will be in Honolulu this December. The football squad will play in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu on Dec. 24 at 7 p.m. CT/3 p.m. HT. The basketball team is playing in the inaugural Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu Dec. 22, 23 and 25. Both teams were also in Hawaii in 1984 when the No. 10 ranked SMU football team defeated No. 17 Notre Dame 27-20 in the Aloha Bowl on Dec. 28. The basketball team was also in the top-ten. The No. 7 Mustangs defeat No. 11 Oklahoma 85-76 on Dec. 22 then the No. 6 SMU squad fell 71- 70 at Chaminade on Dec. 25. It is the Mustangs' only previous game on Christmas Day.
HAWAIIAN AIRLINES DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC: SMU faces UNLV on ESPNU in the opening round on Dec. 22 at 9:30 p.m. CT/5:30 p.m. HT at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu. The Mustangs will face either College of Charleston or the host Hawaii Warriors on Dec. 23. SMU will then face Saint Mary's, Western Michigan, USC or Northeastern on Dec. 25. This is the Mustangs fourth tournament in Hawaii and first since 1987-88. SMU won the 1983-84 Rainbow Classic.
IN ROAD OPENERS: The Mustangs are 33-60 all-time in road openers and have lost four straight. The last win was 69-61 in overtime at Montana State on Nov. 22, 2004. Under Doherty, the Mustangs fell at Florida State 59-52 in 2006-07, 82-57 at Dayton in 2007-08, and 60-46 at South Florida last season.
THE SERIES: SMU and Occidental are meeting for the first time.
LAST MEETING: N/A
LAST GAME (DEC. 7, W 94-86 vs. Texas State): DALLAS (AP) - Derek Williams scored 21 points and Robert Nyakundi added a career-high 19 as SMU beat Texas State 94-86 on Monday night. Mohammed Faye finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, and Mike Walker had 12 points for the Mustangs (3-3). Uriel Segura, Tony Bishop and J.B. Conley each scored 18 for the Bobcats (3-6). Nyakundi had 17 points in the first half, and SMU led 52-41 at the break. The Mustangs' point total was their highest since a 99-96 double-overtime victory over UTEP on March 1, 2008. Their first-half total was their highest since scoring 55 against Louisiana-Monroe on November 11, 2006. SMU never trailed and led by as many as 21. Texas State opened the second half on a 9- 0 run to pull to within 52-50 but never got any closer.
NOTES FROM THE TEXAS STATE GAME:
1 - The Mustangs scored 52 points in the first half, their largest first-period output since they scored 55 points against Louisiana-Monroe on November. 11, 2006, a 99-66 win for the Mustangs.
2 - SMU scored 90 points in a game for the first time since they scored 92 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on 12/31/2008, a 92-62 win for the Mustangs. It is the most points scored by SMU since 3/1/2008, when they defeated UTEP 99-96 in double-overtime.
3 - It was the second time this season that SMU has had three or more players score 15+ points (also 11/21 vs. Florida Gulf Coast); Mohammed Faye (15), Robert Nyakundi (19), and Derek Williams (21).
4 - Set a season-high with 28 free throws made (34FTA, 82.4 FT%)
5. - Mouhammad Faye - Scored 15 points, tied carrer-high with 3 blocks
6 - Robert Nyakundi - career-high 19 points (6-8 FG, 4-6 3FG) in 20 minutes (17 points in first half)
7 - Mike Walker - Season-high 12 points (4-4 3FG), moved to 16th at SMU career 3FGM with 70
8 - Derek Williams - Season-high 21 points, career-high 11 FT and 12 FTA (91.7 FT%)
QUICK TAKE:
1 - The Mustangs have four players averaging double-figure scoring: Derek Williams (15.0), Mouhammad Faye (14.2), Paul McCoy (10.3), and Papa Dia (10.2).
2 - Papa Dia is averaging 7.7 rebounds and has had 8 or more rebounds three times this season. He had just four games with eight or more rebounds during the 2008-09 season. He has led the team in rebounds three times this season after leading six times last season. Of his 46 rebounds this year, 23 are on the offensive end.
3 - Mouhammad Faye has scored 10+ in all but one game this season (8 vs. Huston-Tillotson). He is averaging 14.2 points for the season after averaging 9.6 last year.
4 - Mouhammad Faye scored 21 points and Paul McCoy had 20 against Texas A&M on Nov. 16. It was the first time two Mustangs had 20 points since the same duo (McCoy 32, Faye 23) in a 92-62 win over Texas A&M - Corpus Christi on Dec. 31, 2008.
5 - Against Florida Gulf Coast, Paul McCoy co-led SMU in points (18), rebounds (8), assists (3), steals (2). It was the second time he had led or co-led in all four categories; also doing so against East Carolina on Jan. 24, 2009. That was the first time for a Mustang since Bryan Hopkins against Marshall on Feb. 18, 2006.
STREAKS:
10+points: Derek Williams 3 (18, 16, 21), Mouhammad Faye 2 (11, 15), Robert Nyakundi (19), Mike Walker (12)
8+ rebounds: Mouhammad Faye 2 (12, 8)
Dbl-Dbl: 5+ assists: Paul McCoy (5)
3+ steals: Derek Williams (3)
2+ blocks: Mouhammad Faye 2 (3, 3)
MILESTONES: SMU Career 3FGM: Mike Walker is 16th 70 (15th Gerald Lewis 79, 14th Dez Willingham 81)
BIG PICTURE (NOTES ENTERING THE 2009-10 SEASON)
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.
HEAD COACH Matt Doherty...is in his ninth season as a head coach and his fourth season at SMU. This is his 19th season in collegiate coaching with eight NCAA Tournaments, seven conference titles, a Final Four appearance and the 2001 AP National Coach of the Year award. He also has 22 players that have gone to the NBA. He has a 126-132 record including a 36-61 mark on the Hilltop.
