Tulsa World article

[Pony_Fan]

Out with a whimper
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
3/10/2004

View in Print (PDF) Format



Mustangs end TU's dismal season with first-round knockout

FRESNO, Calif. -- SMU point guard Bryan Hopkins failed to make the All-Western Athletic Conference basketball team. He claims he did not know about the omission until teammates told him about it during a first-round WAC Tournament game Tuesday night.

Then Hopkins proceeded to remind Tulsa why he belongs among the league's elite players. The super sophomore scored 30 points, second-highest total of his career, as SMU beat TU 79-60 at Save Mart Center.

"If there are 10 players better in the league than this guy, show them to me," SMU interim coach Robert Lineburg said.

Hopkins -- who ranks among the WAC's top five players in points, assists, steals and 3-pointers -- hit 10-of-13 shots, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range, against Tulsa. He helped the Mustangs to a season-best 56.4 field-goal percentage. The Ponies shot 67.9 percent in

the second half and advanced to a Thursday quarterfinal against top-seeded Nevada.

Tulsa, which closed its season at 9-20, rallied from an 11-point deficit to take a 40-38 lead on a Guilherme Teichmann 3-pointer with 16:52 remaining. Momentum quickly shifted back to SMU because TU failed to get defensive stops.

The Mustangs scored on 16 of their next 20 possessions and the Hurricane -- which shot 36.4 percent -- managed only two field goals in the last nine minutes.

Hopeful of salvaging the season with a strong postseason run, Tulsa became the first defending WAC Tournament champion to lose a tournament opener since UNLV did so in 1999. On both occasions, SMU did the dethroning.

TU suffered its first losing season and its first 20-loss season since 1988. And, for the first time since 1998, the Hurricane will not participate in the NCAA Tournament or NIT.

"It's not acceptable what happened," said third-year coach John Phillips. "I know that. The players know that. And we've got to do something about it. We're the only ones that can."

SMU improved to 12-17. Three of the Mustangs' victories are over TU and both of Lineburg's victories have come at the Hurricane's expense.

Since taking over on an interim basis, Lineburg said he has concentrated on getting players to perform like they did in early-season victories over Purdue and Texas Tech, when SMU -- believe it or not -- was garnering votes in the Associated Press poll.

The last time SMU shot 50 percent from the field under former coach Mike Dement came in a Dec. 21 game against Purdue. The Mustangs have shot 50 percent or better in three of four games under their interim coach.

Lineburg said it helps to have big men who can pass well enough to get shots for teammates. Center Eric Castro, who normally victimizes Tulsa with his scoring, dished a career-high seven assists and the Mustangs finished with a season-high 23.

TU tried a box-and-one to slow down Hopkins and it worked for a while. He scored 16 points in the first 10 minutes and did not score again until 10:47 of the second half. Patrick Simpson stepped to the forefront during Hopkins' lull and finished with 20 points, three shy of a career-high.

Jarius Glenn led Tulsa with 17 points. Teichmann and Jason Parker scored 14 each. Parker, playing the final game of his career, took a seat with 2:27 remaining.

Instead of the game being played in a postseason atmosphere, the game was played with almost no atmosphere. Approximately 2,000 fans speckled Save Mart Center, including the TU women's team (which sat courtside opposite the men's bench) and Denver Nuggets scout Jim Harrick, a former UCLA coach whom the Golden Hurricane victimized for a 1994 NCAA Tournament victory.

[The PonyGrad]

Yeah, they made a good point about Castro. I was surprised at the box score when I saw that Castro had seven assists. Hey, whatever works. I like the creativity and change of pace.