SMU/Brown preview

[PonyPride]

This Game:
BROWN Bears (5-9)
at
SMU Mustangs (10-3)
 
Sat. Jan. 6 - 7:00 pm CT
Moody Coliseum (8,998)
Dallas, Texas
Radio: KAAM 770 AM
Internet: Mustang All-Access
www.smumustangs.com
 
The SMU Mustangs (10-3) host the Brown University Bears (5-9) at Moody Coliseum on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. The Mustangs are 6-1 at home this season following the 84-71 win over Texas-Pan American on Jan. 4. This is the Mustangs’ final non-conference game of the season.
 
The Mustangs and Bears are meeting for the first time ever. This is also the first meeting between Matt Doherty and Brown coach Craig Robinson.
 
This game is the third of a four-game homestand for the Mustangs in a stretch with nine of 12 contests at Moody Coliseum. The homestand concludes with the Conference USA opener against Southern Miss on Jan. 10. The upcoming game will be a matchup of two former Associated Press National Coaches of the year: Matt Doherty of SMU earned the honore in 2001 when he was at North Carolina and Larry Eustachy of Southern Miss won the award while at Iowa State in 2000.
 
The Mustangs lead Conference USA in 3-point percentage defense (.305) and are second in rebound margin (+8., rebounding defense (28., and scoring defense (59.4). Individually, Jon Killen leads the league in assists (5.62) and is second in steals (2.23). Donatas Rackauskas is second in rebounds (8.0) and Ike Ofoegbu is fourth (7.0). Bamba Fall leads the conferebnce in FG Percentage (.683) and is second in blocked shots (2.46).
 
Devon Pearson is looking for a collection of round numbers in c areer categories. He has 788 points, 98 assists, and 99 steals in his career.
 
LAST GAME: DALLAS (AP) - Jon Killen scored a career-high 16 points and SMU gave Matt Doherty his 100th career victory with a 84-71 win over Texas-Pan American on Thursday night. Doherty reached the milestone in his first season at SMU, where he took over after spending last season at Florida Atlantic. The Mustangs are the fourth stop for Doherty, who was named coach of the year by The Associated Press in 2001 at North Carolina for winning a share of the regular-season ACC title. Donatas Rackauskas scored 13 points and Derrick Roberts and Ike Ofoegbu each scored 12 for SMU (10-3). Dez Willingham added 11. Kano Edwards came off the bench to lead Texas-Pan American (8-7) with 14 points. Johnathan Chatman and Colin Lien added 13 points. Paul Stoll scored 11 and Zach Trader added 10. SMU led from the start, as the Mustangs shot 60 percent from the field in the first half and finished the game at 55 percent. Texas-Pan American shot 31 percent in the first half and 44 percent for the night. Doherty's career record is 100-74.
 
AN SMU WIN MEANS: SMU improves 11-3, which would be the best since starting 12-3 in the 2000-01 season.  The Mustangs would also be 7-1 at home, which is the best since a 10-0 home start in 2000-01.
 
W = 100+: Head coach Matt Doherty got career win 100 when the Mustangs defeated Texas-Pan American 84-71 on Jan. 4. (Doherty wins - 22 at Notre Dame, 53 at North Carolina, 15 at Florida Atlantic, 10 at SMU)
 
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Mustangs are 6-1 at home this season after defeating Texas-Pan American 84-71 on Jan. 4. The Mustangs defeated Dayton 53-48, Louisiana-Monroe 99-66, Paul Quinn 76-54, Texas College 79-63, and Prairie View A&M 68-51 in the season-long five-game homestand from Nov. 18 to Dec. 13. It was the first sweep of a homestand of at least five games since a six-game sweep in 1997-98. The lone loss was 80-76 against North Carolina A&T on Dec. 30. (Devon Pearson missed the game with a knee injury).
 
BY AIR AND BY WEB: The Mustangs are on KAAM 770 AM in Dallas/Fort Worth. Rich Phillips, Allen Stone, and Jay Poerner bring you all the SMU basketball action and news from around Conference USA. All home games can also be seen through Mustangs All-Access at SMUMustangs.com.
 
OFF THE COURT NEWS:
DEC. 8 - SMU Breaks ground on Crum Basketball Center
The Mustangs broke ground on the Crum Basketball Center on Dec. 8. It is a $13 million, 43,000 sq. ft. training center that will be open in the Fall of 2007. (complete information on page 10 of the game notes)

DEC. 19 - SMU Adds George Lynch To Staff
George Lynch, a 12-year NBA veteran and NCAA Champion, joined the SMU men's basketball staff as the team's administrative assistant/graduate manager. Lynch averaged 22.8 minutes, 6.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 774 games during his 12 NBA seasons. He was selected in the first round (12th overall) by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1993 NBA draft and played for four franchises: Lakers, Vancouver Grizzlies, Philadelphia 76ers, and New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. He was named All-Atlantic Coast Conference and All-Final Four Tournament in 1993 after helping lead the North Carolina Tar Heels to the NCAA Championship. Lynch also played in the NBA Finals in 2001 when his 76ers won the NBA Eastern Conference.

DEC. 20 - Inside College oops With Matt Doherty Begins Jan. 8
SMU men's basketball coach Matt Doherty will have a weekly one-hour radio show beginning Jan. 8. Inside College Hoops with Matt Doherty is hosted by Rich Phillips, the voice of the Mustangs, and will be on KAAM 770 AM, the home of Mustangs' basketball. The weekly event will be held at Ten Sports Grill in downtown Dallas. Fans can also listen to the show at SMUMustangs.com. The show runs from Jan. 8 to March 26 beginning at 7 p.m. The first show on Jan. 8 will begin at 6 p.m. due to the BCS Championship game that evening. The show is a partnership of ISP Sports, SMU Basketball, Ten Sports Grill and KAAM 770 AM. (more information and a complete schedule on page 4 of the notes)

DEC. 30 - Mustangs Unveil New Scoreboard and Videoboard in Moody Coliseum
The new $900,000-dollar Daktronics scoreboard is 17 feet high by 25 feet wide with eight-by-12-foot video boards on all four sides. The board was built and raised while both teams played away from Moody Coliseum during the semester break from Dec. 13 until Dec. 30. New corner scoreboards and signage were also put in Moody during the break and are part of arena upgrades that will continue over the summer.
 
TOUGHNESS: The starting lineup against North Carolina A&T of Brian Epps, Jon Killen, Donatas Rackasukas, Paulius Ritter and Cameron Spencer was decided based on toughness drills conducted by the coaching staff in practice the day before the game. The winners got to start.
 
IT’S THE RED JERSEYS: The Mustangs have a set of red jerseys in addition to the traidtional home white and road blue. The Mustangs have won both games played in the red jerseys this season.
Dec. 3   Texas College    W, 79-63           50th anniversary of opening Moody Coliseum
Dec. 21 at TCU  W, 64-62           Defeat rival on Dez Willingham’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer
 
EYE ON THE POWER RANKINGS - RPI & SAGARIN: Jan 5 - RPI No. 85, Sagarin No. 96
The RPI is one of the principal components the NCAA selection committee uses to determine the field for the NCAA Men's Tournament. It has three primary components. It does not include non-Division I opponents in SMU’s record (Paul Quinn and Texas College). The Mustangs finished the 2005-06 season at No. 269 in the RPI and No. 198 in the Sagarin ratings.
Part I (25% of the formula): Team winning percentage.
Part II (50%): Average opponents' winning percentage.
Part III (25%): Average opponents' opponents' winning percentage.
The Mustangs reached No. 7 in the RPI on Dec. 8
                                                            1-50      51-100  101-200 201+     Non Conference L10       R/N
Rnk                  Conf      W-L      SOS     W-L      W-L      W-L      W-L      W-L      RPI       SOS     W-L      W-L
85         SMU     CUSA  8-3        166       0-1        1-1        3-0        4-1        8-3        85         184       7-3        4-2
22         Florida St.         ACC     12-3      L, 59-52 at FSU on 11/14/06
53         Dayton  A-10     11-3      W, 53-48 at SMU on 11/18/06
70         Oklahoma         B12      7-4        L, 69-42 at Oklahoma on 12/28/06
 
JON “SHOOTER” KILLEN: Coach Matt Doherty called Jon Killen “shooter” during the summer to help him think more aggressively on offense. The mindset is showing.
2004-05 Fr.        46 points in 28 games (1.6 avg)
2005-06 So.       57 points in 29 games (2.0 avg)
2006-07 Jr.         107 points in 13 games (8.2 avg)
 
MASTERS OF HIS DOMAIN: Fifth-year senior Donatas Rackauskas will have his masters in accounting in May 2007. He finished his bachelor’s in accounting in December 2005 (3.5 years). He is in his fifth season because he missed the 2004-05 season due a preseason knee injury.
 
OPENING ACT IS A WINNER: Matt Doherty is off to an impressive start at SMU. Here is how he compares with othercoaches in their first year of running the men’s basketball team on the Hilltop. The Most wins by SMU under a first-season coach is 16 by Sonny Allen in 1975-76.
COACH W-L      PCT      SEASON          LEAGUE           W-L      PCT      FINISH
Dale Morrison    12-2      .857      1916-17 N/A
John Shumate   13-16    .813      1988-89 SWC    7-9        .438      7th of 9
Matt Doherty     10-3      .769      2005-06 C-USA  0-0        .000      ___ of 12
F.C. Baccus      14-8      .636      1938-39 SWC    8-4        .667      3rd of 7
Sonny Allen       16-12    .571      1975-76 SWC    10-6      .625      3rd of 9
E.O. “Doc” Hayes          13-10    .565      1947-48 SWC    5-7        .417      5th of 7
James Stewart   10-8      .556      1942-43 SWC    4-8        .333      T-5th of 7
Burton Rix         5-4        .555      1917-18 N/A
Roy D. Baccus  11-10    .524      1944-45 SWC    7-5        .583      T-3rd of 7
Jimmy Tubbs     14-14    .500      2004-05 WAC    9-9        .500      T-4th of 10
H.A. Faulkner    10-11    .476      1922-23 SWC    4-10      .286      6th of 6
R.N. Blackwell   8-14      .363      1921-22 SWC    4-11      .267      4th of 6
J.W. St. Clair     5-11      .313      1924-25 SWC    4-10      .286      6th of 8
Mike Dement     8-20      .286      1995-96 SWC    3-11      .214      T-7th of 8
Dave Bliss         7-20      .259      1980-81 SWC    3-13      .188      9th of 9
Bob Prewitt       6-18      .250      1967-68 SWC    5-9        .357      T-7th of 8
 
OUR FTM IS MORE THAN YOUR FTA: Head coach Matt Doherty sets a goal for the Mustangs to make more free throws than the opponent attempts. Here is a look at the season to date.
            SMU     Opp                  Goal     Result
11/12    18-25    7-9        vs. Illinois State Yes      W, 57-55
11/13    10-17    3-4        vs. McNeese State         Yes      W, 70-54
11/14    7-9        13-18    at Florida State  No        L, 59-52
11/18    27-40    12-24    Dayton  Yes      W, 53-48
11/22    15-22    15-19    Louisiana-Monroe           No        W, 99-66
11/27    20-24    12-19    Paul Quinn        Yes      W, 76-54
12/3      13-22    9-10      Texas College    Yes      W, 79-63
12/13    10-19    2-4        Prairie View A&M           Yes      W, 68-51
12/16    12-15    7-12      at Centenary      No        W, 68-40
12/21    16-23    12-19    at TCU  No        W, 64-62
12/28    7-11      11-17    at Oklahoma      No        L, 69-42
12/30    24-32    22-30    North Carolina A&T        No        L, 80-76
1/4        19-25    10-18    Texas-Pan American      Yes      W, 84-71
Season 198-284 135-203 NO       Yes 7-0 / No 3-3
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLES: Devon Pearson entered the season with 11 career double-doubles, which was the most by an active player in C-USA. He was the only current Mustang with any entering 2006-07. Pearson had nine in 2005-06.
2006-07 Double-Doubles
Player   Stats    Opponent          Season Career
Ike Ofoegbu       26 pts, 10 rebs  La-Monroe 11/22            1st        1st
Devon Pearson  19 pts, 10 rebs  Texas College 12/3        1st        12th
Ike Ofoegbu       14 pts, 10 rebs  Prairie View A&M 12/10  2nd       2nd
Ike Ofoegbu       13 pts, 11 rebs  at Centenary 12/16         3rd        3rd
 
BUZZER BEATERS:
11/12 vs. Illinois State - W, 57-55 - Devon Pearson gave the Mustangs an opening-night victory against Illinois State as he tipped in a miss from Derrick Roberts as time expired for the 57-55 triumph. Pearson tipped it in from the right side of the basket after Roberts’ 12-foot jumper from the left baseline skipped across the rim.

12/21 at TCU - W, 64-62 - Dez Willingham hit a running 3-pointer from the left wing as time expired to give SMU the 64-62 win. The play started when Derrick Roberts received the inbounds pass and threw it to Donatas Rackauskas at mid-court. Rackauskas took two dribbles and fed Willingham on the left wing for the game-winner. The lead changed hands four times in the final 17 seconds. Brent Hackett gave TCU a 60-59 lead on a 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining. Jon Killen was fouled by Kevin Langford three seconds later and hit both free throws. Killen was then called for a blocking foul against Ryan Wall with 8.9 seconds to go. Wall hit both free throws to give TCU a 62-61 edge that set up the final play.
 
WHERE THERE IS A “WILL”INGHAM, THERE IS A WAY: Dez Willingham has beat the buzzer with a running 3-pointer twice to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat:

Dec. 21, 2006 - W, 64-62 at TCU - Willingham hit a running 3-pointer from the left wing as time expired to give SMU the 64-62 win. He received a pass from Donatas Rackauskas as the Mustangs went the length of the court for the winner in the final 8.9 seconds. The lead changed hands four times in the final 17 seconds.

Jan. 21, 2006 - Rice W, 80-69 (ot) - The Mustangs forced overtime after Willingham hit a 25-foot three-pointer to tie the game at 64-64 with a half a second left in regulation. That concluded an SMU rally from seven points down with 1:37 remaining in the second half.
 
HONORS:
Colonial Classic All-Tournament (SMU went 2-1)
            Jon Killen (10.7 points, 5.4 assists, 3.3 steals)
            Ike Ofoegbu (14.0 points, 6.7 rebounds)
 
I LIKE IKE: Ike Ofoegbu has become a force for the Mustangs this season. In just six games, he has almost matched his totals from last season in scoring, free throws, and field goals while drastically increasing his averages
            Points   Avg.      Rebs     Avg.      FG        3FG      FT
2005-06 102       3.8        82         3.0        35-62    0-1        32-50
2006-07 170       13.1      91         7.0        52-94    9-22      57-78
 
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS: Devon Pearson became the 29th player at SMU with 500 career  rebounds when he passed the mar against Louisiana-Monroe 11/22.
REBOUNDING (CAREER)
  1. 1169 - Jon Koncak - 1981-85
  2. 1077 - Ira Terrell - 1972-76
  3. 976 - Jeryl Sasser - 1997-01
  4. 889 - Larry Davis - 1981-85
  5. 840 - Jim Krebs - 1954-57
  6. 790 - Willie Davis - 1997-01
  7. 785 - Jeff Swanson - 1974-78
  8. 759 - Patrick Simpson - 2001-05
  9. 745 - Joel Krog - 1953-56
 10. 690 - Tim Mason - 1989-93
 11. 687 - Carroll Hooser - 1963-66
 12. 669 - Lynn Phillips - 1966-69
 13. 650 - Quinton Ross - 1999-03
 14. 634 - Eric Castro - 2001-05
 15. 621 - Terry Williams - 1983-87
 16. 619 - Steve Strange - 1958-61
 17. 615 - Jan Loudermilk - 1959-62
 18. 609 - Greg Kinzer - 1989-93
 19. 580 - Bill Voight - 1966-69
 20. 574 - John Colborne - 1985-90
 21. 562 - Mike Wilson - 1990-93
 22. 554 - Gene Phillips - 1968-71
 23. 550 - Wilbur Marsh - 1957-60
 24. 549 - Devon Pearson - 2003-06
 
FAMILIAR FOE: The Mustangs have met seven opponents more than 100 times.
Rice      182       111-71  Feb. 10@SMU, Feb. 24@RU
TCU      182       100-82  W, 64-62 - Dec. 21@TCU
Baylor   175       100-75
Texas A&M       175       90-85
Texas   174       71-103
Arkansas          153       59-94
Texas Tech       104       47-57
 
BLOCK PARTY: Bamba Fall’s 2.46 blocks per game are second Conference USA. He was 11th in the Dec. 17 NCAA statistics. In 2005-06, Bamba Fall set the SMU freshman record with 53 blocks last season in just 18 games. (Passed the previous record of 43 by Ira Terrell in 1972-73). He also led C-USA with 3.36 per league contest.
 
Bamba Fall - Blocks                   GP       2+        3+        4+        5+        6+
2005-06             Fr.        18         15         10         8          3          1
2006-07             So.       13         9          5          3          2          1
                        Total     30         24         15         11         5          2
 
BLOCKED SHOTS (CAREER)
1. 278 - Jon Koncak - 1981-85
2. 169 - Ira Terrell - 1972-76
3. 151 - Patrick Simpson - 2001-05
4. 129 - Reggie Franklin - 1977-79
5. 88 - James Gatewood - 1990-94
6. 85 - Bamba Fall - 2005-07
7. 81 - Quinton Ross - 1999-03
8. 78 - Brad Branson - 1978-80
9. 69 - Bobby Dimson - 1994-98
10. 67 - Thines Robinson II - 1974-78
     67 - Jeryl Sasser - 1997-01
12. 65 - Glenn Puddy - 1984-86,87-89
13. 63 - Donatas Rackauskas - 2002-07
 
MUSTANG HOOPS BLOG: SMU Mustangs’ head coach Matt Doherty has his own blog at www.MustangHoopsBlog.com.
 
SMU MILESTONES:
- The Mustangs won seven consecutive games (Nov. 18 to Dec. 21) for the first time since winning 10 in a row to start the 1997-98 season
- The Mustangs swept a homestand of five or more games for the first time since a six-game stretch in the 1997-98 season
- The Mustangs won a school-record five games in November, finishing the month 5-1. The Mustangs had previously gone 4-0 in November to start the 1997-98 and 2000-01 seasons.
- SMU had its first 2-0 start against Div. I opponents since a 4-0 start to the 2000-01 season. The 2-0 starts in 2004-05 and 2001-02 included non-Div. I victories. (Savannah St. in 2001-02 and UT-Tyler in 2004-05)
 
LONG TIME, NO SEE: SMU has had a few numbers in the boxscore that have not seen in a while
- SMU scored 99 points against La.-Monroe 11/22 - last time was 101 at Puerto Rico - Mayaguez 12/20/2000 (W 101-72)
- Jon Killen had 10 assists against La-Monroe 11/22 - last time was Bryan Hopkins with 10 against TCU on 11/24/2002 (W ot, 87-84)
 
SMU RECORD UPDATES: Additions or changes to the SMU record book during the 2006-07 season.
SMU Single-Game - Team
            3FGM   T-4th - 13 Texas-Pan American 1/4
                        T-6th - 12 vs. McNeese State 11/13
                        T-6th - 12 La-Monroe 11/22
            3FG PCT           3rd - 61.9% (13-21) Texas-Pan American 1/4
SMU Single-Game - Individual
            FTA      T-7th - 17 by Ike Ofoegbu vs. Illinois State 11/12
Moody Coliseum Single-Game - Team
            3FGM   T-4th - 13 by SMU vs. Texas-Pan American 1/4
            3FG PCT           T-5th - 61.9% (13-21) by SMU vs. Texas-Pan American 1/4
 
COACHING EXPERIENCE: Head Coach Matt Doherty has assembled a coaching staff of Associate Head Coach Mike Garland, Assistant Coach Lance Irvin, Assistant Coach Steve Lutz, and Director of Operations Malcolm Farmer. The coaching staff entered the season with totals of 49 years of collegiate coaching with 16 conference crowns and 12 conference tournament championships. They have earned 26 postseason appearances, including 18 bids to the NCAA Tournament with 14 trips to the Sweet 16, nine Elite Eights, six Final Fours and two National Championships. The coaching staff has also guided 32 players to the NBA.
 
SMU RECORD FOR NATIONAL TV EXPOSURE: The SMU Men's Basketball team has a school record five nationally televised games during the 2006-07 regular season. The Mustangs play four games on CSTV and one game, at Memphis, on ESPN. The Mustangs' games on CSTV include TCU, both match-ups with Houston and the home game against Memphis. The Mustangs play the first three televised games on the road before playing the final two at home in Moody Coliseum.

Thu, Dec. 21, at TCU (CSTV) - W, 64-62 on Dez Willingham 3-pointer at buzzer (Tom Hart, Steve Lappas)
Saturday, Jan. 13, at Houston - 5 p.m. (CSTV)
Saturday, Feb. 3, at Memphis - 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Wednesday, Feb. 7, vs. Houston - 7 p.m. (CSTV)
Saturday, March 3, vs. Memphis - 8:30 p.m. (CSTV)
 
R-T-C: Head Coach Matt Doherty uses the initials RTC to represent his vision for the Mustangs. They are Respect, Trust and Commitment. The red wristbands the players wear have RTC as well as several signs around the Mustangs’ locker room and offices.
 
QUOTABLE: Quotes by and about SMU from the 2006-07 season.
 
Jan. 4 - Postgame - Texas-Pan American (W, 84-71)
Matt Doherty (on showing a highlight video before the game to build confidence)
"We've got to change our course of action. We've got to build 'em up."
 
Derrick Roberts (on how the team reacted to seeing the highlight video)
"It got the guys fired up. We chose to come out and make a difference on the court."
 
Matt Doherty (on adjusting the offense to allow more quick perimeter shots after the loss to N.C. A&T)
"Maybe I needed to loosen the reins a little bit. I want you to look inside first, but if you have a good look, take the shot."