SMU Defeats Syracuse In ACC Second Round 73-53

Wednesday, March 12

Charlotte, N.C. (Spectrum Center)

8:30pm CT

SMU

23-9,13-7ACC

Syracuse

14-19,7-13ACC

Team	1	2	F
Syracuse	28	25	53
SMU	31	42	73

SMU Defeats Syracuse In ACC Second Round 73-53

Mar 12 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Harris, Cross Each Score 12 As Mustangs Advance to ACC Quarterfinals

Box Score | Postgame Notes
Photo Gallery | Tournament Central
Video Highlights | Condensed Game Video

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Chuck Harris and Matt Cross scored 12 points apiece and sixth-seeded SMU beat No. 14 seed Syracuse 73-53 on Wednesday night in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

SMU (23-9) advances to play third-seeded Clemson in a quarterfinal matchup on Thursday.

Boopie Miller and backup Keon Ambrose-Hylton each scored 10 points for the Mustangs who shot 53.2% (25 for 47).

J.J. Starling scored 16 points and Jyare Davis 14 for Syracuse (14-19).

The Mustangs' win was in stark contrast to their March 4 home win over Syracuse when they led for only 1:28 and needed a tip-in from Ambrose-Hylton with 2.9 seconds left to seal a 77-75 win.

On Wednesday, SMU started the second half with a 7-0-run and recorded its first double-digit lead to make it 38-28 when Harris hit a jumper with 16:20 left. The Mustangs maintained safe distance and extended the lead to 53-38 on B.J. Edwards' layup with 6:07 remaining.

The largest lead of the first half belonged to SMU when Kario Oquendo buried a 3-pointer with 1:52 left to give the Mustangs a 31-22 advantage. Syracuse quickly countered with 3's from Starling and Davis in a 40-second span. SMU led 31-28 at halftime.

The Orange got its largest first-half lead at 5-0 in the game's first minute-and-a-half.

SMU Postgame Notes – March 12, 2025

T. Rowe Price ACC Men's Basketball Tournament – Second Round
No. 6 SMU 73, No. 14 Syracuse 53
SMU (23-9), Syracuse (14-19)
Spectrum Center – Charlotte, North Carolina
Postgame Press Conference on ACCN
ACC Media Hub
Head Coach Andy Enfield Postgame Audio

UPCOMING GAME
T. Rowe Price ACC Men's Basketball Tournament

Spectrum Center – Charlotte, North Carolina
Quarterfinal vs No. 3 [10/10] Clemson – Thursday, March 13 – 9:30pm ET/8:30pm CT
TV: ESPN2 | Radio: SMU Mobile App / Varsity Network App / SiriusXM

NET / WINS / ACC STANDINGS

SMU entered the game No. 50 in the NCAA NET
- SMU is 6-9 combined in Q1 & Q2 and 17-0 combined in Q3 & Q4
SMU is 11-3 combined in road and neutral-site games this season
- 4-0 in neutral-site games this season
Third-largest margin of victory in a conference tournament game
- 25 vs Tulsa in 2022 (83-58)
- 22 vs Houston in 1988 (W, 98-76)
- 20 vs Syracuse in 2025 (W, 73-53)

SMU – MOST WINS
30 in 2016-17
28 in 1987-88
27 in 2013-14+
27 in 2014-15
26 in 1955-56
25 in 1983-84
25 in 2015-16
24 in 2021-22
23 in 1984-85
23 in 2024-25
+ wins vacated

SMU RUNS

SMU had a 12-1 run to go up 31-22 at 1:52 1st half
- Kario Oquendo had back-to-back threes to finish the run
SMU opened the second half with a 10-0 run to lead 41-28 with 14:44 left
- Held Syracuse scoreless for the first 5:35 of the 2nd half
SMU has 29 runs of at least 10-0 this season (18-2 in those games)

SECOND HALF

SMU outscored Syracuse 42-25
FG%: SMU 66.7%, Syracuse 26.7%
Rebounds: SMU 21, Syracuse 11

STAT COMPARISON

Score: SMU 73, Syracuse 53
- SMU entered the game 3rd in ACC / 29th NCAA at 81.1
- SMU entered the game 4th in ACC / 43rd NCAA with a margin of +8.9
FG%: SMU 53.2, Syracuse 34%
- SMU entered the game 2nd in ACC / 28th NCAA at 48.2
- SMU entered the game 3rd in ACC / 49th NCAA at 41.3% FG defense
- SMU is 14-0 when holding opponents under 40%
3FG%: SMU 7-14, Syracuse 6-22
- SMU entered the game 2nd in ACC / 19th NCAA at 38.0%
Rebounds: SMU 36, Syracuse 28
- SMU entered the game 2nd in ACC / 29th NCAA with a margin of +5.6
Assists: SMU 15, Syracuse 11
- SMU entered the game 2nd in ACC / 52nd NCAA at 15.8
Steals: SMU 7, Syracuse 8
- SMU entered the game 1st in ACC / 59th NCAA at 8.0
Blocked shots: SMU 6, Syracuse 3
- SMU entered the game averaging 3.5
Bench points: SMU 28, Syracuse 14
- SMU entered the game 2nd in ACC / 58th NCAA at 25.2
Points in the Paint: SMU 30, Syracuse 20
- SMU entered averaging 36.9

NOTES

Starters: #0 B.J. Edwards (G, 6-3, 185, Jr.), #2 Boopie Miller (G, 6-0, 175, Jr.), #3 Chuck Harris (G, 6-4, 190, Sr.), #24 Samet Yiğitoğlu (C, 7-2, 265, Fr.), #33 Matt Cross (F, 6-7, 230, Sr.)
- 10^th game with this starting lineup, 3rd straight
SMU had 4 with 10+ points
- 24th time at least 4 scoring 10+ (19-5)
- Keon Ambrose-Hylton 10 (10+ in 2 of past 3 games)
- Matt Cross 12 (Entered game 38th in ACC averaging 11.9)
  - 15th straight game in double figures, also had 9 rebounds
- Chuck Harris 12 (Entered game 29th in ACC averaging 12.9)
  - 8th straight game in double figures, tied season-high 6 rebounds
- Boopie Miller 10 (Entered game 25th in ACC averaging 13.4)
SMU had 15 assists on 25 made FGs
- SMU entered the game 2nd in ACC / 52nd NCAA at 15.8
- Boopie Miller 4 (entered game 4th in ACC / 31st NCAA at 5.7)
SMU had 8 steals
- SMU entered the game 1st in ACC / 59th NCAA at 8.0
- B.J. Edwards 3 (entered game 2nd in ACC / 19th NCAA at 2.3)
  - 24th game this season with multiple steals
- Boopie Miller 1 (entered game 9th in ACC at 1.6)
SMU outrebounded 36-28
- SMU entered the game 2nd in ACC / 29th NCAA with a margin of +5.6
- Keon Ambrose-Hylton 4
- Matt Cross 9 (Entered game 6th in ACC at 7.8)
- Chuck Harris 6 tied season-high
- Kario Oquendo 5
SMU had 6 blocked shots
- SMU entered the game averaging 3.5
  - 5 was highest in ACC game this season
- Matt Cross 2 tied career-high
- Tibet Görener 3 career-high (was 2)
- Samet Yiğitoğlu 1 (entered game 18th in ACC at 0.9)

HEAD COACH ANDY ENFIELD

SMU Head Coach Andy Enfield
- 23-9 at SMU (1st season)
- 284-184 career record (14th season)
- 15-11 in conference tournaments

ADDITIONAL INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Keon Ambrose-Hylton (#22, F, Sr.)
- 10 points (10+ in 2 of past 3 games)
- 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Matt Cross (#33, F, Sr.)
- 12 points (Entered game 38th in ACC at 11.9)
  - 15th straight game in double figures
- 9 rebounds (Entered game 6th in ACC at 7.8)
- 1 steal
- Tied career-high 2 blocks
B.J. Edwards (#0, G, Jr.)
- 9 points (entered game 52nd in ACC at 10.0)
- 3 rebounds
- 2 assists (Entered game 11th in ACC in assists at 3.6)
- 3 steals (entered game 2nd in ACC / 19th NCAA at 2.3)
  - 24th game this season with multiple steals
Tibet Görener (#5, F, Sr.)
- Career-high 3 blocked shots (was 2)
Chuck Harris (#3, G, Sr.)
- 12 points (Entered game 29th in ACC at 12.9)
  - 8th straight game in double figures
- 3-5 on 3FGs (Entered the game at 43.4%)
- 2 assists
- Tied season-high 6 rebounds
Boopie Miller (#2, G, Jr.)
- 10 points (Entered game 25th in ACC at 13.4)
- 4-4 FTs (entered game 13th in ACC at 80.9%)
- 4 assists (2 turnovers)
  - Entered game 4th ACC / 31st NCAA at 5.7
  - Entered game 2nd ACC / 32nd NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.58
- 1 steal (Entered game 9th in ACC at 1.6)
Kario Oquendo (G, 6-4, Sr.)
- 8 points (Entered game 47th in ACC at 10.9)
- 2-3 on 3FGs (Entered the game at 40.5%)
- 5 rebounds
- 3 assists
Yohan Traore (F, 6-11, Jr.)
- 6 points, 1 rebound
Samet Yiğitoğlu (C, 7-2, Fr.)
- 2 points (entered game 51st in ACC at 10.4)
- 2 rebounds (entered game 18th in ACC at 6.3)
- 1 block (entered game 18th in ACC at 0.9)
- 1 assist
- 1 steal

SMU INDIVIDUAL SEASON RECORDS
SMU Season Steals
               1             79           Gerald Lewis (Sr.), 1992-93
               2             77           Carl Wright (So.), 1983-84
               3             76           Carl Wright (Jr.), 1984-85
               4             74           B.J. Edwards (Jr.), 2024-25

SMU INDIVIDUAL CAREER RECORDS
SMU Career 3FG Made
               1             273         Stephen Woods, 1996-00
               2             267         Robert Nyakundi, 2008-12
               3             256         Bryan Hopkins, 2002-06
               4             225         Nic Moore, 2013-16
               5             220         Troy Matthews, 1993-97
               6             190         Shake Milton, 2015-18
               7             170         Quinton Ross, 1999-03
               8             163         Jahmal McMurray, 2017-19
               9             161         Chad Allen, 1990-94
               10           140         Chuck Harris, 2023-25

SMU TEAM SEASON RECORDS
Total Points
1             2879       1987-88
2             2627       2013-14
3             2599       2016-17
4             2587       2024-25
5             2535       2023-24

3-point field goals made
1             286         2016-17
2             281         2017-18
3             280         2021-22
4             277         2010-11
5             263         2018-19
6             256         2024-25
7             251         2023-24

Steals
1             297         1987-88
2             282         2013-14
3             278         1999-00
4             277         2023-24
5             254         2024-25
6             248         1998-99