>SMU Mustangs (12-11, 7-7 WAC)
>At
>BOISE STATE Broncos
>(12-15, 5-10 WAC)
>
>Fri. Feb. 25 - 8:30pm CT/7:30pm MT
>Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho
>Radio: KAAM - 770 AM
>TV: SportsWest, ESPN GamePlan, KFWD Ch. 52
>
>The SMU Mustangs (12-11, 7-7 WAC) make their final road trip of the regular season. It begins at Taco Bell Arena against the Boise State Broncos (12-15, 5-10 WAC) on Friday Feb. 25 at 8:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. CT. The game is available on KAAM 770 AM and on television via ESPN GamePlan and in Dallas/Fort Worth on KFWD Ch. 52 as part of the SportsWest network.
>
>The Ponies defeated the Broncos 78-69 in Dallas on Jan. 29, which started the current four-game home winning streak. Conversely, the Mustangs need to win in Boise to snap four-game road-losing streak. In the previous game, Devon Pearson scored 19 points and Patrick Simpson added 18 as SMU rallied past Boise State. SMU played without Bryan Hopkins due to a sprained right wrist. Jermaine Blackburn scored 25 points and Coby Karl had 19 points for Boise State. The Broncos led 34-28 halftime, but the Mustangs came back as they shot 61 percent in the second half. SMU's Derrick Roberts had 18 points and Eric Castro added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Pearson, who was 5-for-10 from 3-point range, grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and Simpson had five blocked shots.
>
>SMU is shooting 69.5 percent (307-442) at the free throw line on the season, but have shot 76.1 percent (86-113) during the last five games. Every player with at least three starts in that stretch is hitting 75-percent or better: Patrick Simpson .909 (10-11), Bryan Hopkins .809 (29-36), Devon Pearson .765 (13-17), Eric Castro .765 (13-17), and Ike Ofoegbu .750 (3-4).
>
>Eric Castro was named to the COSIDA Academic All-District VI first-team on Friday. This is his third consecutive season to get All-District VI honors for his combination of on-court and scholastic achievement. Castro has a 3.8 grade-point-average in accounting and sociology. He is now among the finalists for COSIDA Academic All-America honors. Bryan Hopkins was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 9 second-team.
>
>LAST GAME: Florentino Valencia and Keith Triplett took over during second-half scoring spurts to help Toledo hold off SMU, 78-67. Triplett scored 16 points, Valencia and Keonta Howell each had 15 and Justin Ingram chipped in with 10 for the Rockets, who hit 53 percent of their shots from the field. Devon Pearson, Eric Castro and Bryan Hopkins had 18 points apiece for the Mustangs. SMU trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half but cut the deficit to 45-44 on Pearson's layup with 12:49 remaining in the game. Valencia then scored the next six Toledo points to give the Rockets a 51-46 lead. After Castro's layup cut the lead to 51-50 midway through the half, Triplett hit three free throws and a basket to push the lead back to six with 8 minutes remaining. The Mustangs never got closer than four points again.
>NCAA RANKINGS - ALL GAMES (Through Feb. 21)
>INDIVIDUAL: FG Pct - Castro (31st at 56.5); Steals - B. Hopkins (28th at 2.5)
>TEAM: Steals (36th at 9.0).
>
>WAC RANKINGS - ALL GAMES (Through Feb. 21)
>INDIVIDUAL: Scoring - B. Hopkins (6th at 17.6), Castro (10th at 14.6), Simpson (15th at 12.
; Rebounding - Castro (7th at 7.5), Simpson (13th at 6.3), Pearson (15th at 6.0); FG Pct - Castro (2nd at .565), Simpson (4th at .537); Assists - B. Hopkins (4th at 4.10); FT Pct - B. Hopkins (8th at .755); Steals - B. Hopkins (1st at 2.45), Pearson (t-6th at 1.48), Castro (10th at 1.39); 3FG Pct - B. Hopkins (4th at .354); 3FGM - B. Hopkins (1st at 2.60); Blocked Shots - Simpson (6th at 1.43); Ast/TO Ratio - Roberts (9th at 1.47); Offensive Rebounds - Castro (2nd at 3.78), Pearson (6th at 2.65); Defensive Rebounds - Simpson (9th at 4.57).
>TEAM (only listed if top-five): Scoring Defense (4th at 66.7); Scoring Margin (5th at +2.4); FT Pct (5th at .695); FG Pct (4th at .453); Rebounding Defense (3rd at 33.3); Steals (1st at 9.04); Turnover Margin (2nd at +1.96); Offensive Rebounds (1st at 13.04).
>
>WAC RANKINGS - WAC GAMES (Through Feb. 21)
>INDIVIDUAL: Scoring - B. Hopkins (5th at 18.
, Castro (10th at 15.6); Rebounding - Castro (5th at 7.7), Pearson (12th at 6.3), Simpson (15th at 5.9); FG Pct - Simpson (3rd at .533), Castro (4th at .517); Assists - B. Hopkins (6th at 3.64); FT Pct - B. Hopkins (4th at .803); Steals - B. Hopkins (1st at 3.18), Pearson (t-6th at 1.57), Castro (8th at 1.50); 3FG Pct - B. Hopkins (6th at .356); 3FG Made - B. Hopkins (2nd at 2.36); Blocks - Simpson (4th at 1.62); Offensive Rebounds - Castro (2nd at 3.64), Pearson (5th at 2.79); Defensive Rebounds - Simpson (10th at 4.54).
>TEAM (only listed if top-five): Scoring Defense (3rd at 66.9); FG Pct (4th at .457); FG Pct Defense (5th at .443); 3FG Pct (4th at .357); 3FG Pct Defense (2nd at .323); Rebounding Defense (4th at 34.4); Blocked Shots (5th at 3.50); Steals (1st at 9.07); Turnover Margin (2nd at +2.86); Ast/TO Ratio (5th at 1.08).
