Mustangs Find Stride Heading Into Exam Break
Dec 13 | Men's Basketball
DALLAS – From Kendric Davis' perspective, the turn started in Jacksonville, Florida.
The SMU men's basketball team had gotten off to a solid start for the 2021-22 season, winning three of four games with the lone loss coming at then-top 15 Oregon. With games against Missouri and Loyola Marymount as part of the 2021 Jacksonville Invitational, the Mustangs had a chance to show what they could do in a neutral environment.
Instead, the outings became a rough learning lesson.
"You look at our record and you would say we lost three games, but really Oregon is the only team that came and kicked our butts. The rest of them we gave away," Davis said following SMU's win over Dayton before going on exam break. "Now, we're starting to gel and find our identity."
Against Missouri, SMU (8-3 overall) led by 11 at halftime and as many as 13 in the final 20 minutes of regulation. The Tigers rallied to pull out the five-point win in overtime. A day later, LMU stormed back from a 17-point first half deficit to hang on for the victory.
With nine new players filling the roster, chemistry was bound to come up. The Mustangs did a lot of bonding during the summer and have been working steadily to get acclimated to each other since practice officially opened up.
But nothing can replace the speed or mentality of a live game. That's why there are moments like Jacksonville. It's also why there's stretches like what has happened since then.
"Early in the season, everybody is a little skittish late in close games. It's hard when you turn just playing pick up into college practice intensity, that's a big jolt for every player. And then you kind of get used to that pace and then you go into the games and that's another jolt of intensity. And before you start to feel comfortable, you get into a late game and the thing turns all the way up with trapping and pressing and craziness," SMU coach Tim Jankovich said. "We are getting experience doing that. But for me as important, or more important, is our steady improvement and hopefully single-mindedness of all our guys, our staff and our players, that we do need to keep getting better and keep improving in areas so that those late games are a little easier."
Following the loss to LMU, the Mustangs have reeled off five straight wins, including recent games against UNLV, Vanderbilt and Dayton. Against UNLV and Dayton, SMU got out to a halftime lead and stayed in control enough to get the victory. In the battle with Vanderbilt, the team rallied from a 12-point deficit after 20 minutes to earn a 12-point win.
The secret isn't really a secret at all. It's simply the byproduct of hard work and relationships being developed during live action.
Between now and December 19, the Mustangs have time to keep fine tuning the little things before traveling to New Mexico for a date with Lobos. Improvements are good. Continued improvement is better. And the Mustangs have every intent of continuing to learn and improve.
"I think now we're starting to know what guys can do and what they can't and we're all playing to our strengths. We're just starting to learn how to play together," Davis said. "I think at the beginning of the year, we were kind of doing things we couldn't do, getting outside of ourselves. I think now we're just gelling."
