SMU bounces back with 75-64 road win at East Carolina
SMU Basketball went on the road and grabbed its second American Athletic Conference win of the season, beating East Carolina 75-64 on Saturday.
Score: SMU 75, East Carolina 64
Record: 11-5, 2-1 AAC
Next Game: The Mustangs host Temple on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
Player of the Game: SMU G Chuck Harris – SMU’s second-leading scorer finished with eight assists on the day as well. Harris went 6-of-14 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range. He did have the second-most turnovers with three, but in 33 minutes, he made a good impact on the outcome for the Mustangs.
Leading scorers: Zhuric Phelps (17), Chuck Harris (14)
Sequence of the Game: From 7:03 to 3:35 remaining in the 1st half, SMU went on a 10-2 scoring run. That built a 13-point lead for the Mustangs, which SMU rode to a 9-point halftime lead. Ultimately, that lead was something that teed the Mustangs up for a win on the road by double-digits.
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Rest of the Story: SMU allowed ECU to hang around going into the half, but the Mustangs closed the door quickly in the 2nd half, building a 14-point lead in the first 2:24 of the half. East Carolina was chasing the Mustangs the rest of the way. The Mustangs built an 18-point lead with 13:49 to play, leading 37:56 of the game. SMU took advantage of turnovers, outscoring ECU 16-9 on points off turnovers. SMU’s nine-game run of winning points in the paint came to an end as ECU won that battle, 36-26. Keon Ambrose-Hylton and Tyreek Smith combined for just eight points and 3-of-9 from the field. ECU got the SMU lead down to 9 with 1:19 to play, but SMU made free throws and that earned the Mustangs the win.
Notable Stat I: The Mustangs got 25 points from the bench compared to just five points for ECU.
Notable Stat II: SMU went 12-of-13 from the free-throw line while ECU went 16-of-25 from the charity stripe.
The Final Word: The Mustangs bounced back from an awful game shooting from three-point range against Memphis. This time out, the Mustangs stepped up to make 9-of-26 from three-point range, including 5-of-13 in the 2nd half. When the Mustangs are able to get contributions from deep, completes this team. Despite SMU’s struggles containing Ezra Ausar, who finished with 25 points, the defensive results on the rest of ECU’s group was strong. All 11 SMU wins this season have been by double-digits. To get their first road win over AAC play should bode well for confidence heading into a quick turnaround for Tuesday’s home matchup against Temple.
