SMU's second half burst leads Mustangs past Tulane, 87-79

Chuck Harris led the way as SMU took the lead early in the second half and pulled away midway through in Thursday’s win at Tulane.

Even though they trailed for most of the first half, they kept the game close and were able to comeback in the second half and take control of the game. With the win, SMU completes the season sweep of the Green Wave and wins its fifth-straight game after never winning back-to-back conference games a season ago.

Five Mustangs scored in double figures.

Score: SMU 87, Tulane 79

Record: 18-7, 9-3

Next Game: vs. Memphis, 3 p.m. Sunday (ESPN)

Player of the Game: Chuck Harris led the way for SMU’s second-half comeback. He scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, including four of his five made 3-pointers. For the night, Harris was 5-of-6 from the beyond the arc and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. He set a new season-high, surpassing the previous of 24 points which came in the win at Florida State back in December.

Leading Scorers: Harris (25, six assists), Zhuric Phelps (19), Tyreek Smith (11, seven rebounds, four blocks), Samuell Williamson (10, seven rebounds, four assists), Jalen Smith (10).

Sequence of the Game: The Mustangs came out of the locker room in the second half and turned the game around. They went on a 9-0 run after going down by five, to lead by four. Samuell Williamson went 2-for-2 from the free throw line, Jalen Smith hit a 3-point shot to tie and Tyreek Smith delivered back-to-back buckets, the second a dunk, and SMU would lead the rest of the way.

The rest of the story: The teams traded shots and leads throughout the opening 14 minutes of the game. But Tulane took the lead back with 5:59 left in the first half, led by as many as six an by four at halftime. A Tulane free throw made it a five-point game early in the second half. That’s when the Mustangs went on their run to take the lead back for good. A Zhuric Phelps shot put SMU up nine with 9:14 to play and it would stay at least a nine-point advantage until the final 73 seconds, but never dropped below six. SMU finished strong at the free throw line, going 8-of-10, to put the game away.

Notable Stat I: After shooting just 36.4% in the first half, SMU was 46.9% from the floor and 7-of-12 (58.3%) from the 3-point line. The Mustangs scored 50 points in the second half after a 37-point first half. 

Notable Stat II: Tulane opened the game 2-for-3 from the 3-point line. It would go 2-for-10 the rest of the way, including six-straight misses and the first five attempts of the second half.

Notable Stat III: Both Phelps and Williams hit the 1,000-point mark for their careers during the game. Phelps did it with 3:12 left in the first half while Williamson did it on a free throw with 1:09 remaining in the game. Harris has the most career points of anyone on the SMU roster with 1,303. 

Final Word: SMU seemed to play into Tulane’s strengths over the first half of the game, especially the tempo of both teams going fast up and down the court. That changed in the second half as the Mustangs slowed the game down to a more comfortable pace. That’s when things shifted as they were able to win a fifth-straight game for the first time since Jan. 12-29 of the 2021-22 season. The win helps the Mustangs keep pace with the top teams in the conference to remain in the Top 4 of the standings. It was also SMU’s second Quad 2 victory, improving to 2-4 in those games. Most importantly, it was a quality road win. The Mustangs have shown the ability to win at Moody, but if they can win on the road too it could mean a big finish to the season. Not only is SMU on a five-game winning streak, it has won eight of the last 10 and 12 of the last 15.