Tulane 97 - SMU 88 (1/11/23)
SMU drops its 3rd AAC game in a row at home to Tulane.
The SMU Mustangs hosted the Tulane Green Wave in the Moody Coliseum Wednesday night. Mustangs coming off of two bad losses looking to bounce back. After the UCF game we listed three aspects the Mustangs needed to improve on this game: rebounds, limit turnovers and free throws. The game started off very slow with defense and no offense. Neither team scored into double digits until about 12 and a half minutes remained in the first half. SMU was very active on defense and you could see them bending in stance ready to play. It was working but the offense was asleep. It didn’t help that SMU continued to miss free throws. Zurich Phelps was out of the game, he didn’t dress but Stefan Todorovic did. The Serbian had a huge game off the bench finishing with a career high 27 points, 6/6 from FT and his 1st career double-double. He was keeping SMU in the game and the Mustangs were only down 1 at halftime.
The Second half began like the 1H. But, the final 7 minutes of the game was a little different. The defensive effort wore off from the 1H and nobody was playing defense now on either side. It was the Mustangs who cracked first. The SMU offense didn’t score with about 2 minutes remaining. That was all Tulane needed to go on a run and put it away from reach. SMU lost 97 to 88. Tulane scored 63 points in the 2H.
This was a game SMU needed to win and they let it slip away. The Mustangs dominated on the glass out rebounding Tulane 45 to 27, which is a huge improvement. Again, the two SMU killers showed themselves again: free throws and turnovers. SMU shot 15/23 65% from the free throw line. The Mustangs also had 16 turnovers. Efe Odigie had 20 points, made all of his FTs and played great in the paint. That is 3 games in a row now where there is no guard help or scoring for the offense. It is not surprising why SMU has loss three in a row. They can’t score! Even when the shots are “free” they clank them away.
SMU plays rival the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday and that won’t be any walk in the park. The Bearcats play tough and physical. Its what the Mustangs struggle with. Cincinnati will be playing aggressive defense. The SMU guards will need to find their way back to the gym because they will be needed to help avoid a 4 game losing streak. We wish the SMU Mustangs good luck on Saturday. The Ponies are due for a win.
Aspects for the SMU Mustangs to improve on:
Free Throws
Turnovers
Get the guards going on offense
