SMU notes

[MustangFan]

Found this on the USAToday's page about the WAC. I think it was written before the recent road trip.

SOUTHERN METHODIST

GETTING INSIDE— It appears that Quinton Ross will battle Hawaii's Carl English all the way to the end of the season in the race to be the WAC scoring champion.

Ross enters the week with an average of 20.2 points. English is a couple of ticks better at 20.4.

Ross is a better slasher, more able to create in the lane, and he's also a more active defender. English, meanwhile, is one of the nation's premier shooters — he has drained 67 three-pointers. Ross has only 29.

More comparisons: Despite being perimeter players, both are active on the glass, Ross ranking 12th in the league at 6.5 rebounds per game and English 17th with an average of 5.7.

Entering the week, Ross is coming off a monster 30-point, 11-rebound effort in a 73-63 victory over Rice. In two games vs. the Owls this season — both victories — Ross scored 57 points and made 28 of 30 free throws.

That would be one rematch SMU (13-12, 8-7) wouldn't mind seeing again in the WAC tournament.

NOTES, QUOTES— Has freshman point guard Brandon Hopkins hit the wall?

He's been super most of the season, averaging 13.0 points and nearly four assists per game, performing as advertised after a honor-filled prep career in Dallas.

But, lately, he can't hit the broad side of a barn.

In the past five games, Hopkins has hit a mere 11 of 54 attempts from the field (20.4 percent). He was 4 of 18 in the pair of games last week — a loss to Tulsa and win over Rice.

Those performances have dropped his season shooting percentage to 33.6 overall and 32.4 from behind the arc.

LINEUP: Point guard Bryan Hopkins, wing Quinton Ross, wing Justin Isham, forward Patrick Simpson, center Eric Castro.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "We're not going to quit, man. ... We know we still have the WAC tournament coming up. Right now, we're just trying to play well going into the WAC tournament, trying to get hot." — Senior Quinton Ross, in the Dallas Morning News.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL— THIS WEEK'S GAMES: at Boise State, Thursday, Feb. 27; at UTEP, Saturday, March 1.

KEYS: Getting a big game out of Quinton Ross is a given almost every night. The thing that SMU needs to continue working on as the WAC tournament approaches is being a complete team, one that sees Brandon Hopkins break out of a horrible shooting slump, gets contributions from athletic 6-9 forward Patrick Simpson (who can hurt teams from the outside) and has hard-working Eric Castro provide smart play from the paint.

PERSONNEL/INJURIES

— Quinton Ross has 1,658 career points, ranking seventh on SMU's all-time chart. The 6-6 senior is soon to pass No. 6 Larry Davis (1,665) and No. 5 Ira Terrell (1,715).

— Ross has scored in double figures in 62 of his past 65 games.

— Eric Castro had 13 rebounds in the loss to Tulsa on Feb. 19.