The SMU men's basketball season will continue in the NIT following Thursday's three-point loss in the ACC tournament quarterfinals.

The Mustangs finished tied for fourth and reached the quarterfinals of the conference tournament in their first season in the ACC

"We really like our team. They've been impressive young men, with 10 new players, came together," SMU head coach Andy Enfield said. "They've had a terrific season with winning on the road, winning on neutral courts and winning 23 games so far. It's been a lot of fun to coach these young men. They grew as a team. They grew as individuals. We're a pretty good basketball team right now."

The 32-team tournament will begin on Tuesday, but it was hard to think about the possibility of playing more games following the loss to third-seeded and No. 10 team in the country Clemson on Thursday night.

Trailing by two with less than a minute left, Chuck Harris missed a corner 3-point shot and the ensuing rebound was ruled SMU's ball before a review gave it to the Tigers. Even then, Clemson only went 1-for-2 from the free throw line allowing SMU to attempt a full-court shot to tie, but it came up short.

"We had our chances in the last couple minutes," Enfield said. "Even the last play of the game … Chuck got hit on the hand on his shot, couldn't follow through and the out-of-bounds call where the Clemson guy kicked it. We missed free throws down the stretch. We missed a lay-up, and then we missed a four-foot floater with no one on us. A lot of things didn't go our way in the last three minutes of the game, unfortunately."

But the Mustangs did enjoy some success in Charlotte.

SMU reached the quarterfinal with a 20-point win against Syracuse, 73-53, in the second round on Wednesday night. The Mustangs scored the first 10 points of the second half to build a double digit lead it would hold for the final 13-plus minutes of the game.

"I think it's an amazing league," Enfield said of the ACC. "... It's an incredible basketball league, and we're thrilled to be in it at SMU. My coaching staff and our players, they did a great job this year of competing and putting us in position to win seven road games, went 7-3 on the road in the league, and to go 13-7 in the first year."

Coming into the season, there were plenty of unknowns when it came to the Mustangs and their first year in the ACC. SMU was picked to finish 13th and ended up tying for third. Matt Cross was named the program's first ACC Player of the Week on Dec. 16. Boopie Miller was named Third Team All-ACC and B.J. Edwards was named to the ACC All-Defensive Team. 

Edwards also received votes for Most Improved Player while Kario Oquendo received votes for Sixth Man of the Year. 

"I feel like a lot of people didn't believe in us and think we were going to do what we did this season," Miller said. "I just want to thank Matt and all the seniors for just playing hard, and I thank all of my teammates and the coaching staff, as well."

This year's team helped lay the foundation for what the Mustangs are capable of and can do in the future.

"I think it's in a great direction," Cross said of the SMU program. "You can tell the fan base and the people behind the scenes and the athletic department really care about the sports and making it a big thing in the ACC the first year, and this is what we did. It's pretty impressive."

And the Mustangs aren't finished yet.