GAME REPORT: Texas Tech 78, SMU 75

[PonyPride]

SMU rally falls short against Red Raiders
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The SMU men's basketball team fought back in the waning moments against Texas Tech Tuesday night but ran out of time, as the Red Raiders hung on to win, 78-75, before a sold-out Moody Coliseum in a frenzied atmosphere the likes of which hasn't been seen on the Hilltop in years.

Dallas Carter grad Andre Emmett scored 30 points to lead the Red Raiders in their first visit to Moody under new head coach Bobby Knight. Senior guard Damon Hancock led the Ponies with 23 points.

Hancock said after Saturday's Mustangs win over Navy that he thought he'd be excited by the presence of Knight and the big-game atmosphere, but after Tuesday's game, he said that feeling didn't last long.

"The atmosphere was great," Hancock said. "Everybody was pumped up. Speaking for myself, I was excited, too, but once I hit the floor, I settled down and forgot he (Knight) was here and just played my game. But I have to give credit to them. They played well."

SMU jumped out to an early lead. After surrendering the game's first bucket to Tech forward Kasib Powell, Hancock drove the lane and notched a three-point play on a short jumper and a foul shot. By spreading the ball around, the Mustangs were able to jump ahead by 10, 23-13, before the Red Raiders fought back.

"I really liked SMU as a team," Knight said. "They play hard and they work [deleted] both ends of the floor. Hancock is very difficult to defend. He did a better job of getting to a place on the floor with the ball than we did of stopping him."

With 5:58 left in the first half, Hancock got his second personal foul -- each of which was a "personal control" (charging) foul, forcing SMU head coach Mike Dement to replace him for fear of Hancock picking up a third. Tech chipped away at the SMU lead before tying the game, 30-30, on a three-pointer by Powell with 5:31 left in the first half. Emmett teamed with center Andy Ellis to give the Red Raiders a halftime lead, with each player hitting a couple of baskets in the half's final minutes.

"They really beat us on the boards," Dement said. "Emmett's six offensive rebounds led to some easy shots."

Tech stretched its 43-38 halftime lead to a 10-point margin before the Ponies got untracked. Swingman Quinton Ross and center Nigel Smith scored to pull the Ponies to within 48-43, but Emmett resonded with a hopp and a free throw to extend the Tech lead.

After a long stretch in which Hancock and Ross seemed to be the Ponies' only offensive options, SMU battled back. Freshman forward Patrick Simpson hit a pair of free throws with 4:43 left in the game and then hit a short jumper to pull hte Ponies to within three, 67-64. Powell responded with a jumper for Texas Tech, but Hancock answered with a jumper of his own, keeping the margin at three points. But the Ponies would get no closer, trading points down the stretch until time expired.

"This was a great game," Dement said. "It was a tremendous atmosphere. This is going to be a long season, and this was just one game -- but it was a great game."

While not satisfied with the loss, Dement was quick to point out the positives from the game.

"They had that third guy they can go to on offense, and so far, we don't," Dement said. "Patrick Simpson looks like he's the next guy to want to do that, and he will do that. We have to have a third option and a fourth option (after Hancock and Ross) to be a good team. Patrick showed some good signs. Brian Miller showed some good signs. Justin Isham showed some good signs.

Simpson finished the game with 11 points and 8 rebounds, Miller with 8 points (including a pair of three-pointers) and Isham had 3 points, 6 rebounds and helped bring the ball up against Tech's press defense.

"We built our gameplan around stopping those two," Ellis said of Hancock and Ross, who finished with 19 points. "We wanted to try to take them out of the game. But we also didn't want to give anyone else a career night."

"This was a great game. Seeing Coach Knight and his staff down there on the other bench was great. Was he worth three points? I don't know. I guess he was."

Knight lauded the talents of Hancock, Ross and the rest of the Mustangs.

"The way SMU started out, they played very well and they got up on us by what, 10 points? I told my kids it was almost better that we came back from being down than it was that we won the game," Knight said. "But then I thought it a little bit and thought, 'no, it's not better than winning.'

"It was a great atmosphere. It was jam[packed. They (the fans) saw a hell of a game. And we made a hell of a lot of money for SMU -- a great contribution for the Methodists."

[This message has been edited by PonyPride (edited 11-21-2001).]

[SMU00]

Thanks for the update! Sorry we lost, but it sounds like the boys played hard. Carry that over to the next game, guys!