PonyFans.com game report: SMU 87, TCU 84 (OT)

[PonyPride]

As students stormed the court, jumping at center court and celebrating with the SMU players after SMU's 87-84 overtime win over crosstown rival TCU, SMU head coach Mike Dement hugged TCU forward Bingo Merriex, perhaps the biggest individual thorn in the Ponies' side during Dement's tenure at SMU.

"I told him he finally missed one against us," Dement said. "He's played against us about six times, and it seems like every time, he hits a big three. He had a good look at the end there. We recruited him hard. He's a good player and a good kid. He just grinned at me and walked away — he's that kind of kid."

In the waning seconds of the overtime period, Merriex was one of three TCU players to fire up a potentially tying three-pointer. All three missed, and the Ponies opened the season with their first victory over TCU for any player on the SMU roster.

"I've been here four years, and I've never beaten TCU, " senior SMU swingman Quinton Ross said after leading the Ponies with 28 points. "This means a lot. It's always good to start the season with a win, but especially against TCU."

While Ross led the Ponies in the scoring totals, the game also marked the debut of highly-touted freshman point guard Bryan Hopkins, who finished his first game as a Mustang with 12 points and 10 assists and didn't turn the ball over once. In overtime, he hit a jumper from the side of the basket, and then followed that with a crucial three-pointer to help ice the win for SMU. What made his performance more remarkable was the fact that he was playing through a painful pulled groin.

"Bryan played really well — he's going to be special," Dement said. "That high groin pull — they (the team's medical staff) said that if we took him out, it was going to tighten up on him, so we left him in.

"I think it really hurt him defensively. He wasn't able to move the way he can. But he's so low to the ground, he's hard to take the ball away from. And he's obviously a clutch player."

Hopkins estimated he was about 75 or 80 percent. Known for his blinding speed, he never really blew past anyone with a quick burst of speed. But even stuck in second gear, he was able to keep up with everyone on the floor and deliver in the clutch.

"He makes it so much easier for the rest of us," Ross said of his new freshman point guard. "He gets us the ball in spots where we want it, and he helps create shots for us."

Although he led the team in scoring, Ross had a chance to win the game in regulation. With the score tied, 75-75, the Ponies got the ball back and played for the last shot. After the team wound the clock down, Ross drove into the paint and floated an airball out of bounds as time expired.

"I think I slipped," Ross said sheepishly. "No, I just missed it. I thought the guy was going to foul me hard, and he didn't. And I shot the ball with one hand — I should have just gone up with two hands."

Despite the missed opportunity, the Ponies came up big in the extra period — and nobody came up bigger than Hopkins. His three pointer from the top of the key with 1:30 remaining in overtime proved to be the game-winning shot, giving SMU an 85-81 lead.

"He's not there yet, he doesn't have his explosiveness yet," Dement said of Hopkins. "Those of you who saw him in high school saw him drive the lane and rise up over people to make passes, and he doesn't have that lift right now. But it didn't surprise me that he hit those two (overtime) shots. That's the kind of player he is."

In addition to Ross' 28 points and Hopkins' 12, sophomore forward Patrick Simpson had 11 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Senior Jibran Kelley and sophomore Eric Castro also had 9 boards for the Ponies. The Ponies did well to win the game, considering as a team they hit just 2-of-17 three-pointers (one each by Ross and Hopkins) and shot just 60.5 percent (23 of 38) from the free-throw line.

The Ponies' next game will be at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday night in Lubbock against Texas Tech.

[PK]

Thanks PonyPride...nice report. We may not have had the 7,000 there reported in the paper...but the fans that were there made a lot of noise that last period that I think helped energize the team. Nothing better than a good close college basketball game for excitement. Just one other thought...there isn't a better band at a basketball game than our Mustang Band!!!

[This message has been edited by PK (edited 11-25-2002).]

[SMU00]

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful!
Go Ponies! Beat Tech!

[PonyPride]

Thanks, PK!

Hey, if we had 12,000+ at the football game, we surely had 7,000 at the the basketball game, right?