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 Guards Shaquille Harrison (21), James Woodard (20) and Pat Birt (17)
combined for 58 points as Tulsa handed SMU its first home loss in
more than a year.
Tulsa's guards, whether driving to the basket (the Golden Hurricane
outscored the Mustangs 42-30 in the paint) or hitting from long
distance (Birt was 4-for-6 from 3-point range) were a tough matchup
for SMU all night.
"I was really proud of our guys and how they fought and competed to
give ourselves a chance to win that ballgame," Tulsa coach Frank
Haith said.
The Mustangs are 46-4 in their past 50 home games with the previous
loss a 62-54 defeat to Cincinnati on Feb. 5, 2015.
After an 18-0 start, SMU (20-3, 9-3 American Athletic Conference)
has lost three of its past five games. The Mustangs hold a half-game
lead over Temple for first place in the AAC standings.
"Give them credit, they were much better prepared than us," SMU
coach Larry Brown said of Tulsa. "We didn't run them off the line.
The one time we ran them off the line, he hits a runner. It was a
miracle that we hung in the game, based on the way they were
scoring."
The Golden Hurricane (16-8, 8-4 AAC) shot 58.5 percent for the game
and went on a 9-0 run early in the second half for a 45-36 lead.
SMU, with forward Markus Kennedy doing the hard work inside,
answered with an 11-0 run to reclaim the lead 47-45.
Kennedy finished with 13 points, all in the second half.
The Mustangs' run eventually extended to 19-4, giving SMU a 55-49
lead. The advantage grew to 60-52 after point guard Nic Moore hit a
floater followed by a free throw.
However, Moore, who led all scorers with 27 points, picked up his
fourth foul with 7:27 left and was forced to sit for the next three
minutes.
"He's such a vital part of their offense and what they do," Haith
said about Moore. "Obviously, when he's out of the game, they're not
as potent offensively, so that definitely helped us when he was out
of the game."
SMU held a 68-64 lead when Moore re-entered with 4:22 remaining.
Birt hit back-to-back shots and Tulsa forward D'Andre Wright added
another for a 73-71 lead with 1:55 left.
Moore hit two 3-pointers in the final minute to pull SMU within a
point each time. However, Tulsa answered with a 3-pointer by Birt
and free throws by Woodard to maintain the advantage.
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An airball 3-point attempt by Kennedy was SMU's final gasp with five
seconds left.
The Mustangs lost despite shooting 58 percent in the second half and
making 11 of 23 attempts from 3-point range. However, they hit just
10 of 18 free throws.
"Our offense was good enough," Brown said. "At the end of the day,
our offense didn't really hurt us. But we didn't get stops. ... We
just didn't guard well enough to beat a really, really good team."
Tulsa held SMU to 35 percent shooting from the field in the first
half to take a 36-33 lead at the break.
The Golden Hurricane were more aggressive than the Mustangs from the
start. Tulsa jumped out to a 7-1 lead and remained in front for the
first eight minutes.
Harrison led all scorers in the first half with 12 points on 5-of-8
shooting from the floor. The Golden Hurricane shot 58 percent from
the field in the half.
SMU took its first lead on a dunk by forward Jordan Tolbert with
11:55 left in the half, but it was Moore's 10 points that kept the
Mustangs afloat in the first 20 minutes.
SMU led 31-28 when Moore picked up his second foul with 3:53 left in
the half. The offense went stagnant with Moore on the bench, and
Tulsa finished the half with an 8-2 run.
NOTES: SMU PG Nic Moore was named as one of the John R. Wooden Award
late-season top 20 candidates Wednesday. Moore is also one of 10
finalists for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award. ... Tulsa
G Pat Birt made the AAC weekly honor roll after averaging 24.5
points in two games last week, including 27 against Houston on
Sunday. ... SMU won the teams' first meeting this season, 81-69 on
Dec. 29 at Tulsa. ... Tulsa had beaten one ranked team this season
before Wednesday's game, a 77-67 victory over then-No. 9 Wichita
State on Nov. 17. ... Tulsa G James Woodard made 10 3-pointers in
last season's regular-season finale at SMU, a 67-62 loss to the
Mustangs.
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