There is no easing into the ACC schedule for the SMU men's basketball team this season, opening against No. 12 North Carolina, at Clemson and at No. 5 Duke to start the new year.
For the Mustangs to have success, they will rely on Samet Yiğitoğlu and fellow bigs Jaden Toombs, Mitchell Holmes and Corey Washington. Yiğitoğlu is coming off two of his best performances of the season.
He was a perfect 7-for-7 against Central Arkansas and then went 5-of-7 against Cal State Fullerton, finishing with 14 and 11 points, respectively. He added 11 and 12 rebounds in those games, which, along with his 10-point, 10-rebound performance against LSU, gives him three straight double-doubles.
"We're very proud of his development, his improvement," SMU head coach Andy Enfield said. "You see he's moving much better on the defensive end — he was MVP last game against Central Arkansas — the way he was switching, moving his feet, because they had pick and pop 5s. (Against Fullerton) again, and he had four more block shots. His timing's getting better. He started to move better and anticipate things happening on the court."
It's the first time the Mustangs have had a player with three double-doubles in a row since Jordan Tolbert had three straight in 2015. His efficiency will be important again as UNC comes to Moody Coliseum with skilled size.
"The Carolina team coming in here Saturday is 7-1, 6-10, 6-10," Enfield said. "They have three bigs that they play together a lot. I think one's averaging 19 and 11, and the other one's averaging 17 and nine. The front line we're going to play against Saturday will be as good as any front line in the country, and Samet and the rest of our players have to be ready for that."
One of those players is Toombs, who has played in the last six games after missing the first six with an injury. He had six points and six rebounds in 11 minutes of his debut, the overtime win at Mississippi State.
After SMU's win against Texas A&M, Enfield said Toombs would have been in the starting lineup at the start of the season if it wasn't for the injury. The true freshman who was the centerpiece of the highest-rated class in program history is now getting back to form.
"Jaden Toombs, he's made a big jump because he's getting more comfortable now being out for two months," Enfield said. 'That was really hard on the young man. He played so well in the summer, in the preseason, in the fall, and all of a sudden you have a wrist injury and you're out for two months. That was really hard on him mentally as well as his timing. So you see, he's getting more comfortable."
Holmes has been a bright spot, getting some early playing time in Toombs' absence, including a 10-point effort in the win against Butler.
"Mitchell, you've seen how valuable he's been to us this year, and Chance (Puryear)" Enfield said. "They're all getting better. And once we get in the ACC play, it's going to be different guys every night getting the number called, and they have to be ready."
They will likely get their number called at the same time. The Mustangs have already used two on the court at the same time and could even roll out three, depending on what UNC shows.
Enfield and his staff are comfortable putting a big lineup on the court, including Washington who is a bit of an X-factor..
At 6-6, Washington is undersized compared to the others, but he plays bigger than he is and has a motor that never stops. He has three double-doubles of his own this season, including going for 21 points and 12 rebounds — both season highs — against Radford, and had 15 points, shooting 3-of-4 from the 3-point line, against Fullerton.
"All three have very good hands and feet, so they can pass the ball," Enfield said of Yiğitoğlu, Toombs and Holmes. "You saw Mitchell, in transition, threw that pass without charging, and Jaden and Samet, they all have very good hands and feet, so we feel comfortable playing them together. The way Corey has been playing, he played outstanding basketball (against Fullerton) at the 4. He can slide between the small and power forward. So we think we have a lot of versatility. So we'll see. There'll be a lot of lineups, probably on Saturday, big lineups to try to counter their size and athleticism."
And when they are in the game together, they know what their job is.
"We're just trying to dominate the paint," Yiğitoğlu said. "We're just trying to crash the boards. We're trying to lead in rebounds during the game and dominate the paint the whole game."
