DMN on yesterday's game

[LA_Mustang]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/colleg ... opener.ece

SMU breaks to 49-15 halftime lead, rolls over S. Florida in conference opener

UNIVERSITY PARK — All of the elements missing from SMU’s lackluster victory two nights earlier were in place Wednesday against South Florida.

The Mustangs opened American Athletic Conference play with an 83-49 rout of South Florida before an announced crowd of 6,624 at Moody Coliseum.

“Team defense was what clicked for us today,” said SMU forward Ben Moore, who scored a game-high 15 points. “We rebounded and held them to one shot.”

SMU coach Larry Brown tossed out superlatives in talking about his team’s defense and ball movement. In the first half, the Mustangs (10-3) held South Florida (6-8) to only 21 percent field goal shooting and scored 17 points off turnovers.

“We were great,” Brown said. “We shared the ball. The first half we defended really, really well. It’s a good way to start the conference and a good way to end the year.”

In sprinting to a 49-15 halftime lead, the Mustangs moved the ball crisply on offense and were aggressive on defense.

At the 10:47 point of the first half, SMU had a 22-7 lead, hitting 7 of 11 from the field, with seven assists and one turnover.

The Mustangs continued to pour it on the rest of the first half.

Junior guard Nic Moore drilled four free throws after a shooting foul and subsequent technical on the South Florida bench. Moore also delivered back-to-back assists to Ryan Manuel and Ben Moore, the latter an alley-oop that drew the SMU crowd out of its seats.

Sterling Brown and Ben Emelogu kept the crowd on its feet with back-to-back 3-pointers to boost SMU’s lead to 46-14. Emelogu ended the first half with another 3-pointer for the 34-point halftime margin.

South Florida was out of sync from the beginning. The Bulls hit only 5 of 24 shots, including 1 for 9 from 3-point range, and had 10 turnovers.

After SMU’s victory over Midwestern State, Larry Brown harped on assists and control. Against South Florida, the Mustangs had 13 assists and only two turnovers in the first half.

SMU also hit 26 of 33 free throw attempts.

“I knew that Coach Brown would have them prepared to play their first conference game at home,” South Florida coach Orlando Antigua said.

Brown admitted SMU’s close call Monday was a matter of not being ready to play, “and that’s on me.

“But the nice thing is they came to practice and they all watched what we needed to do and do better. And I think the first half was a reflection of that.”

On Twitter:
@tommycummings

http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com ... rida.html/

3 Takeaways: Keith Frazier, SMU impress in 83-49 beat down of South Florida

1. First Half — What a way for SMU to open up conference pay. The Mustangs played perhaps their best half of basketball against South Florida. SMU dominated from tip off till the teams had to head into the locker room for halftime. Just how good was SMU? The Mustangs held South Florida to 24 percent shooting from the field, limited the Bulls to 1-for-9 from behind the three-point line, kept their front court from scoring any points, forced 10 turnovers and scored 17 points off those turnovers. The Mustangs were equally as impressive on the offensive end of the floor, connecting on more than 50 percent of their shots. On top of that, SMU turned the ball over just once. Larry Brown couldn’t have hoped for a better half as his team took a 49-15 lead into intermission.

2. Keith Frazier — A highly touted recruit out of Dallas Kimball, Frazier didn’t make quite the impact many expected him to as a true freshman last season. But a year of limited action and guidance from Brown might have done him some good. A raw and unpolished player, Frazier is coming into his own this season. Frazier looks more comfortable in the offense this year and is playing extremely confident. It seemed like last year Frazier was lost at times and forced way too many shots. This season, Frazier is playing smart basketball, and that’s a product of Brown. Frazier dominated against South Florida with 14 points and three assists.

3. What it means — SMU was billed as the favorite to win the American Athletic Conference title before the season began. While the Mustangs had a few expected and unexpected bumps on the road, they appear to be firing on all cylinders right now. And that’s scary, especially considering how wide-open this conference is. UConn fell to Temple, Memphis doesn’t look as strong as in years past and Cincinnati, while good, isn’t great. The door is open for SMU to fulfill the preseason prophecy. If the Ponies continue to play this way, they’ll have no problem doing that. Sure, South Florida isn’t exactly an AAC juggernaut, but this type of performance shows that Brown has his troops ready for the road ahead.

EJ Holland is the Associate Editor at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. You can follow him on Twitter @EJSports4.