SMU's Near Record-Breaking Night Sends Mustangs into Break Blazing Hot
MURRAY, KY. SMU came into its road game against Murray State ranked No. 157 in the country for 3-point shooting. That number is going to get a lot smaller.
The Mustangs came a single three short of tying a school record of 16 in a 92-65 road blowout of Murray State. The win puts SMU on a three-game winning streak that began at Florida State where the Ponies have outscored their opponents by a combined 74 points.
Following a player insisted shoot around earlier in the day, the Mustangs came out on fire, hitting their first nine shots, including 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. Despite the hot start, the Racers managed to shoot a high percentage by plowing down the middle of the paint time and again.
However, when the threes weren't raining down, the Ponies were using player movement away from the ball to rapidly build a large lead. With just under nine minutes to go, forward Keon Ambrose-Hylton slipped free for a dunk from Chuck Harris to put SMU up by 14 at 37-23.
And while the Mustangs didn't go cold by any possible measurement, Murray State found a way to hang around. A couple of minutes later, JaCobi Wood hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 37-34 as part of an 11-0 run that immediately drew thoughts of the meltdown just a couple of weeks ago against Arizona State.
"I thought the offense was the problem with the first half," Lanier said. "What I mean by that is we started making shots and I thought we got intoxicated by that a little bit. It's great to see the ball go in – 9-for-13 from three – but that's fickle."
However, SMU showed Lanier's lessons since that heart-breaking loss have taken. Instead of falling apart as the Racers ratcheted up the intensity on defense, Harris calmly knocked down a pair of threes to create a little breathing room. The Mustangs stretched it back out to double digits until Alden Applewhite, a recent beneficiary of the change in NCAA rule requiring multi-transfers to sit out for a season, knocked down a three to send it to the half, 49-40.
That's when things took a swift turn. Adjustments made at halftime spurred a 14-0 run to open the second half. Within a few minutes the lead was at 20 and the Mustangs were leaving no opportunity for the Racers to breathe.
[Balancing offense with strong defense] was the message at halftime," Lanier said." If we kept putting our eggs in that basket [relying solely on hot shooting], the game was going to get away from us. The reason why we weren't in transition very much in the first half is we weren't getting enough stops. They heard it, and they responded accordingly."
With nearly 13 minutes left to play, Ricard Wright popped open in the right corner to knock down another three. At that point, SMU was 14-of-19. Only two players at that point had reached double-digits, yet every Mustang who touched the floor had at least four points. However, by the time the night was done, five players were in double-digits.
Among them was Zurich Phelps, who didn't have his best night offensively with 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting, but made up for it on the defense. In addition to keeping close tabs on senior guard Rob Perry. Not only did Perry finish the night with four points, Phelps stepped into the passing lane of a couple of passes down low to record a pair of steals. That moved him to No. 19 on the all-time steals lead at SMU and within striking distance of being able to finish his career in the Top 10.
"it starts with guys like Sam and Zurich and when Chick's willing to do it because those guys are high usage guys on offense," Lanier said. "And when your high usage guys are willing to make high effort plays, it resonates with the group."
The Mustangs now take two weeks off for the holidays at an inopportune time considering how hot the team is at the moment. SMU will host Charlotte on Jan. 2 to open AAC play on ESPN2 and FuboTV.
PONY EXPRESS:
PICKING KING TO COACH QUARTERBACKS COULD HAVE HUGE BENEFITS FOR LASHLEE, MUSTANGS
BEATING FLORIDA STATE SENDS MESSAGE PONIES WILL BE COMPETITIVE, BUT IT'S A GOOD WIN THIS YEAR
HAVING A 10-WIN SEASON GETS SOME NATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR SMU, RHETT LASHLEE
