Ofuegbu leads SMU rout of La-Monroe

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU DOMINATES LOUISIANA-MONROE, 99-66

Ponies tie school record with 15 three-pointers

DALLAS (AP) - Ike Ofoegbu scored a career-high 26 points to help lead SMU to a 99-66 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday night.

Ofoegbu, who also grabbed 10 rebounds for the first double-double of his career, shot 10-for-12 from the field. Bamba Fall came off the bench to score 17 points, and Devon Pearson added 15. Donatas Rackauskas had a career-high 13 rebounds.

The Mustangs (4-1) led 55-30 at halftime.

Jonas Brown led the Warhawks (2-3) with 23 points, including three 3-pointers. Tony Hooper added 11 points, and Jordan Payne came off the bench to score 10.

SMU made 63 percent of their field goals compared to the Warhawks' 32 percent.

SMU Postgame Notes
The Mustangs are 4-1, which is the best start since an 8-1 start to the 2000-01 season The Mustangs are 2-0 at home this season

Devon Pearson had five rebounds to get to 503 for his career; he is the 29th player at SMU to reach 500 career boards

Bamba Fall had five blocked shots to reach 70 for his career, which is eighth all-time at SMU

SMU career highs Bamba Fall - points (17) Jon Killen - assists (10) Donatas Rackauskas - rebounds (13) Ike Ofoegbu - points (26), rebounds (10), first career double-double

It's been a while since SMU... Scored 99 points - last was 101 at Puerto Rico - Mayaguez 12/20/2000 (W 101-72) Won by 33 points - last was a 43 point win over Savannah State 12/19/2005 (W 89-46) Had more than 20 assists (24 total) - had 23 at UT-Pan American 1/24/2006 (W 84-54) Had five players with double-figure scoring - Savannah State 12/19/2005 (W 89-46)

SMU hosts Paul Quinn College on Monday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m.

[MrMustang1965]

Mustangs could have scored 100+ but Doherty instructed the players to stall with about :25 remaining. Crowd wanted 100. Doherty showed class & sportsmanship.

[BringBackThePonies03]

I would have never thought that we would be able to put up even 90 on anyone. We can play defense that is a given, but hitting 15 three pointers that is impressive!

Good work Mustangs, keep it up...
GO PONIES!!!

[Pony Fan]

How was the crowd?

[bagice]

Pretty small,

but not bad considering it was Thanksgiving Eve, an opponent that has no local interest, and all the students were gone, was actually more than I expected.

[Treadway21]

Seems like Ike and Killen among others are getting career highs every game. DOherty is getting a lot out of these two, of course it is still early, but a good start.

[Bergermeister]

Matt Doherty's "Thanksgiving" recognition of his mom and dad, in attendance at the game, was a genuine expression of gratitude and thanks. The pre-game recognition was short, simple and pure class. The players greeting the Dohertys after the game was really heartwarming. I don't mean to get all mushy, but it is obvious that there is a tremendous amount of planning, thought and purpose in his overall plan for Mustang Basketball. He sees the Big Picture. I can't wait til we play again. Also, thanks to the Mustang Alumni Band for a terrific job filling in.

[Corso]

Matt Doherty's "Thanksgiving" recognition of his mom and dad, in attendance at the game, was a genuine expression of gratitude and thanks. The pre-game recognition was short, simple and pure class. The players greeting the Dohertys after the game was really heartwarming. I don't mean to get all mushy, but it is obvious that there is a tremendous amount of planning, thought and purpose in his overall plan for Mustang Basketball. He sees the Big Picture. I can't wait til we play again. Also, thanks to the Mustang Alumni Band for a terrific job filling in.

Ditto -- thanks the Alumni Band.

The highlight of the night, however, was Coach D's tribute to his parents. It was sincere and thoughtful, which is the impression I get of Coach D, himself. So many people take their families for granted, and it's refreshing to see a man who has enjoyed such great success still appreciates what's truly important. It also speaks volumes about Coach D's character that he didn't have the guys shooting for 100 points. A walk-on had the ball wide open in the waning seconds -- who knows how often those guys will play as the season goes along -- and he simply let the clock run down. Coach Doherty understands the right way to do things, and his players seem to get it, too, from the starting five to the last guy off the bench.

[Ponymon]

I didn't see ANY coverage of the game in this morning's (Thursday) DMN. I guess that they thought that the coverage of Willis and Sanders was enough for SMU

[Col. Nathan R. Jessep]

Pretty small,

but not bad considering it was Thanksgiving Eve, an opponent that has no local interest, and all the students were gone, was actually more than I expected.

I disagree-- it was a bad crowd. You could sit damn near anywhere.

This team ain't bad, and Doherty's already showing his ability to recruit.

Dallas is going to discover Doherty in a year or two, but by then he'll be gone.

[EastStang]

If he stays long enough to get us into the Top 25 for two years and gets us deep into the dance one year, then we become an elite program in basketball. If we have a decent following hire, then we can stay up there. At that point, we'll have 5 years of success and can be a long term elite program. That will be tough to do in CUSA because UH, Memphis, and Tulsa are all doing the same thing.

[Sasser Rules]

We all knew Ike O. was a big, strong guy, but who knew he could shoot 3s?

Anyone who claims to have known that is lying. I was floored by his shooting range.

[mavsrage311]

We all knew Ike O. was a big, strong guy, but who knew he could shoot 3s?

Anyone who claims to have known that is lying. I was floored by his shooting range.

I remember Tubbs talking about how he was a good 3 point shooter, he shot 41% from beyond the arc in his freshman year at JUCO. Might've even lead his team. But he sure doesnt look like he has that kind of range until you see him shoot it

[LA_Mustang]

Nice to see Epps get some action.....12 pts in 19 minutes. Hopefully his hamstring is improving.