By the numbers: MBB beats Connecticut again to win AAC tourn

[PonyPride]

SMU Postgame Notes – March 15, 2015
[20/21] SMU 62, Connecticut 54
The American Athletic Conference Championship – Final
#1 SMU (27-6, 15-3), #6 Connecticut (20-14, 10-8)
XL Center
Hartford, Connecticut

The American Championship Tournament Notes:
SMU earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship tournament with the win
· SMU will be make its 11th appearance in the NCAA tournament
· SMU’s last trip to the NCAA tournament was in 1993

SMU won its first conference tournament championship since 1988 – Beat Baylor 75-64 on March 13 for Southwest Conference Tournament title
· SMU is 2-1 all-time in conference tournament championship games

SMU won The American regular season and tournament titles – Second time in program history SMU won both
· SMU won the 1987-88 Southwest Conference regular season and tournament titles

Larry Brown won his third conference tournament title – (Big Eight with Kansas in 1986; Big Eight with Kansas in 1984)
· Larry Brown is 3-1 all-time in conference tournament title games

SMU Notes:
SMU is 27-6 overall – Tied for second most wins in a season (27-4 in 2013-14 under Larry Brown)
· Won 25 of the last 28 games
· Program record 54 wins in the last two seasons (27-10 in 2013-14)

SMU is 9-4 on the road this season – Second most road wins in a season (10-2 in 1955-56 under Doc Hayes)

Starting Five: Nic Moore, Ryan Manuel, Sterling Brown, Cannen Cunningham and Yanick Moreira

Head Coach Larry Brown
· 1723-1225 all-time (40th season: includes NBA, ABA, USA Basketball and NCAA)
· 246-94 in NCAA (10th season)
o 12-5 in NCAA conference tournament games
· 69-33 at SMU (3rd season)
o 3-2 in SMU conference tournament games

Series Notes:
SMU is 5-1 all-time against Connecticut – Season series was split (SMU won 73-55 in Dallas on Feb. 14; UConn won 81-73 in Hartford on March 8 )
· 1-0 in conference tournament games

Offensive Notes:
SMU had a FG% Margin of XX.X (FG% Margin = FG% - FG% Defense)
· Entered with FG% Margin of 10.2 (48.4 - 38.2 = 10.8 )

SMU was 25-31 on FT (80.6 FT%)
· Entered with FT% of 70.1

SMU had 9 assists on 18 field goals
· Entered with 15.7 apg




SMU had 4 players score 10+ points
· #15 Markus Kennedy 15 pts
· #2 Yanick Moreira 11 pts
· #11 Nic Moore 11 pts
· #00 Ben Moore 10 pts

SMU held the lead at halftime (33-19) for the 26th (24-2 in those games)
· 57-12 under Larry Brown when leading at half

SMU held the lead with 5 minutes left (52-44) for the 24th time (24-0 in those games)
· 63-2 under Larry Brown when leading with 5 minutes left

SMU had more points in the paint (26-18) for the 30th time (25-5 in those games)
· 61-23 under Larry Brown when outscoring opponent in the paint

SMU had more bench points (29-8) for the 22nd time (21-1 those games)
· 49-8 under Larry Brown when scoring more bench points

Defensive Notes:
SMU held opponent under 70 points for the 27th time (25-2 in those games)
· 64-14 under Larry Brown when holding opponent under 70 points

SMU held opponent at or below 40% shooting (32.7%, 16-49 FG) for the 20th time (19-1 in those games)
· Entered with 38.1 FG% defense

SMU outrebounded opponent (43-30) for the 28th time (25-3 in those games)
· Rebound margin of +13
o Entered with rebound margin of 6.8
· 59-15 under Larry Brown when outrebounding opponent

SMU Individual Notes:
#11 Nic Moore (G, Jr.): 11 points (3-14 FG, 4-4 FT), 3 assists
· The American Player of the Year
· 10+ points in 25 games

#2 Yanick Moreira (C, Sr.): 11 points (3-7 FG, 5-7 FT), 5 rebounds, 3 assists,
· The American Most Improved Player
· 10+ points in 21 games

#5 Markus Kennedy (F, Jr.): 15 points (5-10 FG, 5-6 FT), 6 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
· The American Sixth Man of the Year
· 14 points in the first half
· 10+ points in 13 games

#3 Sterling Brown (G, So.): 4 points (2-5 FG), 12 rebounds, 2 blocks
· Career-high in rebounds
· 8+ rebounds in 7 games

#00 Ben Moore (F, So.): 10 points (3-6 FG, 4-4 FT), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
· 10+ points in 11 games