Boopie Miller, Matt Cross talk SMU loss to Clemson

SMU point guard Boopie Miller and forward Matt Cross spoke with the media after Thursday’s ACC Tournament quarterfinal loss to Clemson. Here’s what they said to reporters.

Q. For Boopie and Matt, when did you guys feel the momentum start to shift in their direction? And late in the game, it was pretty loud in there. How were you trying to combat the energy you were feeling down the stretch there?

BOOPIE MILLER: I felt like it was the second half they went on their run, and we just tried to stop the crowd from getting into the game. I felt like we started back playing at our pace, but they came out with a win, and kudos to them.

MATT CROSS: Yeah, I don’t think I felt like it was momentum swing at any point. It’s a game of runs, and there was no point where I thought we didn’t have it or weren’t where we wanted to be.

Q. It wasn’t you guys’ best three-point shooting night. Kind of uncharacteristic. What was going on there? Did you feel like there was a certain point where they were going to start falling?

MATT CROSS: I think that it’s just how it goes. You find whatever the defense gives you. They’re a good defensive team. It’s always been a thing that it’s tough to shoot in tournaments sometimes, but we like to shoot the ones that we get that are open, and we felt like we had an advantage with Samet. He’s a load down there. So we felt like we kept trying to get it to him, and it was working. Lakhin had four fouls early, and he was out a lot of the second half, so part of the game plan.

BOOPIE MILLER: I feel like the same thing Matt said, trowing it in to Samet. We played out of that. And I feel like we went on runs with that, but we just didn’t come out with the win. We came out short.

Q. What can you guys say about the season as a whole, new coach, a lot of new players coming in, just to be where you are, competing with a team like Clemson and how far this program has come? What can you say about the state of SMU basketball?

BOOPIE MILLER: I feel like a lot of people didn’t believe in us and think we were going to do what we did this season, but 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.

MATT CROSS: Yeah, I think it’s in a great direction. You can tell the fan base and the people behind the scenes and the athletic department really cares 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 I want to say thank you to the fans and everybody who was involved, and Andy and the coaching staff for giving me a chance and teaching me a lot along the way that, hopefully, I can carry out however long I play.

Q. For the players, y’all outscored Clemson 40-24 in the paint. How did you like your ability to be aggressive inside?

BOOPIE MILLER: I feel like we drove early in the first half. We made a lot of jump stops and a lot of lay-ups. We didn’t get to the free-throw line a lot, but with the first half and the second half, I feel like we did that well, but we just couldn’t knock down threes, but overall, I feel like we played hard.

MATT CROSS: Yeah, I think it was one of those games where they were kind of a physical team. They’re an inside team. They’ve got a 2 presence down low, as well, and it was a battle of the paint. Most games, unless you come out hitting 20 threes, usually whoever controls the paint can come out with a win.