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SMU Postgame Notes – January 11, 2023
Tulane 97, SMU 88
Tulane (11-5, 4-1 American), SMU (6-11, 1-3 American)
David B. Miller Court at Moody Coliseum – Dallas, Texas

NEXT GAME

Cincinnati – Saturday, January 14 – 3 p.m. CT – David B. Miller Court at Moody Coliseum – Dallas, Texas
TV: ESPNU
Radio: KAAM 770 AM | Audio Streaming: SMU App (Google Play | Apple App Store)

NOTES

Starters: #2 Jalen Smith (G, So.), #10 Zach Nutall (G, Sr.), #11 Samuell Williamson (F, Sr.), #22 Keon Ambrose-Hylton (F, Jr.), #23 Efe Odigie (F, Sr.)
2nd straight game with this lineup
OUT - #1 Zhuric Phelps (injury)

SMU had 5 score in double figures: Zach Nutall (12), Efe Odigie (20 - season-high), Jalen Smith (10), Stefan Todorovic (27 - career high), Samuell Williamson (10)
3rd time in the past 6 games with 5 scoring 10+
3rd time this season with two 20-point scorers
Stefan Todorovic had the 2nd-highest for the Mustangs this season ( by Zhuric Phelps vs Texas A&M Commerce 11/7)

SMU had two double-doubles - Stefan Todorovic (27 points, 10 rebounds), Samuell Williamson (10 points, 11 rebounds)
1st career double-double for Stefan Todorovic (career highs of 27 points and 10 rebounds)
First time with 2 double-doubles in the same game since Cincinnati 3/3/2022 (W, 76-71)

SMU had 23 assists on 32 made field goals
3rd game this season with 20+ (season-high is 25 vs Tulsa 1/1)
Zach Nutall (8 - career-high), Samuell Williamson (8 - career-high)

SMU outrebounded Tulane 45-27
+18 best margin of the season (was +10 vs Tulsa 1/1)
Season-high 18 offensive rebounds (was 15 at Texas A&M 11/30)
Stefan Todorovic (10 - career-high), Samuell Williamson (11)

SMU RUNS

SMU had a 14-2 run over 2:30 the bridged halftime to take a 39-34 lead – started at 1:40 1st half to 19:10 2nd half
SMU trailed 34-33 at halftime – Zach Nutall hit a long 2-point field goal (foot on 3-point line) with 1.0 second left in the first half, 2nd straight home game he beat the halftime buzzer (hit a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left against Tulsa 1/1)

ADDITIONAL INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Keon Ambrose-Hylton (#22, Jr., F)
2nd straight start
6 points, 4 rebounds

Zach Nutall (#10, Sr., G)
12 points, 4 rebounds, career-high 8 assists (was 7)
Entered game averaging 13.8 points (15th AAC), 1.8 threes per game (15th AAC)
1-2 on FTs, entered game shooting 77.1% (14th AAC)
3-8 on 3FGs, entered game averaging 1.8 threes per game (15th AAC)

Efe Odigie (#23, Sr., F)
20 points, 5 rebounds
Entered game averaging 6.8 rebounds (7th AAC)
Season-high 20 points; 7th game scoring 10+, 3rd straight
4-4 on FTs, entered game 78.3% (12th AAC)

Zhuric Phelps (#1, So., G) – AAC Player of the Week on Dec. 26, AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Nov. 28
DNP (oblique strain) – missed 2nd straight game
Entered game averaging 17.5 points (4th AAC), 2.5 assists, 1.7 steals (6th AAC), 30.9 minutes (13th AAC)

Jalen Smith (#2, G, So.)
10 points, 4 assists, 3 blocked shots
Career-high 3 blocked shots (was 2) – entered game with 4 blocks this season

Stefan Todorovic (#3, F, So.)
Career highs of 27 points (was 14) and 10 rebounds (was 7)
1st career double-double
3-8 on 3FGs, entered game at 33.3%

Samuell Williamson (#11, Sr., F) – AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Jan. 2
10 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals
2nd double-double this season, 7th of career
Entered game averaging 6.8 rebounds (7th AAC), 1.3 steals (12th AAC), 1.1 blocked shots (7th AAC)
9th game this season with 7+ rebounds
7th game this season with multiple steals

Great rebounding and assists but Tulane shot 11% better from the field (57% to 46%) and behind the arc (44% to 33%). Tulane also added four points from better free throw shooting. Add the top shooter and it is a winnable game.

Wright, Koulibaly and Lanier combined for 32 minutes, 1-7 shooting, six rebounds, two assists, two steals, one turnover and five fouls.

The number speak for themselves. Very little help off the bench.
Nutall force a lot of shots and a lot of passes that resulted in turnovers. I thought he played poorly - not in effort but in decision makes. When we played with 2 bigs we were not good. When we played with one big we were much better.

Two periods with the two bigs really hurt us - to open the game, and we got off to a really slow start, and then played them again in the second half and Tulane was able to stretch the lead. Not playing that lineup and better transition defense and we win.

This team is really bad defensively when our bigs get pulled out to the perimeter or are too aggressive helping on the screen beyond the 3 point line.

Two positives: Guys are playing better team basketball offensively as evidenced by the number of assists and Todorovic showed us he can be the scorer most expected when he signed with SMU. Love the balanced scoring with 5 guys in double figures

Best game of Todorovic's career.

As Lanier said, Tulane is willing to sacrifice rebounds in order to get upcourt and launch more shots, which makes you wonder if the rebounding edge was a one-off mirage. I guess we'll see Saturday.