GAME THREAD: MBB vs. Tulsa in AAC opener

[PonyPride]

The Mustangs (5-8, 0-0 in the AAC) faces Tulsa (4-8, 0-1) at 2 p.m. at Moody Coliseum on ESPNU.

[PonyPride]

Tulsa leads the all-time series, 33-25, but SMU has won 12 of the last 15, including all 3 matchups in 2021-22, including an 83-58 win in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament that ended the Golden Hurricane's season.

[PonyPride]

G/F Stefan Todorovic is wearing a protective boot on his right foot/ankle and not in uniform

[PonyPride]

SMU finished the non-conference part of the schedule by winning 2 of 3 in the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii, falling to Hawaii on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, 58-57, in the final.

Guard Zhuric Phelps averaged 19.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game, earning all-tournament honors and being named AAC Player of the Week.

[PonyPride]

Exchanging pre-game greetings with several of the Mustangs: Tulsa assistant coach Yaphett King, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant at SMU.

[PonyPride]

Tulsa lost its AAC opener Dec. 28, 89-50, at home to No. 3 Houston

[PonyPride]

TU's 4 wins have come against
Jackson State
Loyola—Chicago
Central Michigan
Mississippi Valley State

[PonyPride]

Weird:
Tulsa insists that the school is the University of Tulsa, not Tulsa University, but wants to be called TU, not UT or UofT

[PonyPride]

Tulsa has three players averaging double-digit scoring:

G Sam Griffin: 14.4
G Brandon Betson: 11.2
F Bryant Selebangue: 11.0

[PonyFan]

Today is big. How many winnable AAC games do we have?

[PonyPride]

Starters

Tulsa
POS # NAME Class — GP — PPG — RPG — APG
G 1 Sam Griffin 12 — 14.4 — 3.2 — 2.3
G 3 Sterling Gaston-Chapman — 12 — 4.3 — 3.6 — 0.2
G 4 Brian Knight 12 — 1.6 — 0.8 — 0.1
G 14 Anthony Pritchard 12 — 8.0 — 2.8 — 3.5
F 33 Bryant Selebangue 12 — 11.0 — 8.1 — 0.8
Team Averages 12 — 67.4 — 33.4 — 12.0

SMU
POS # NAME Class — GP — PPG — RPG — APG
G 1 Zhuric Phelps 13 — 19.5 — 4.5 — 2.8
G 2 Jalen Smith 13 — 3.4 — 1.6 — 1.4
G 10 Zach Nutall 13 — 14.2 — 2.7 — 2.4
F 11 Samuell Williamson 13 — 8.4 — 7.2 — 2.1
F 23 Efe Odigie 13 — 8.7 — 7.5 — 0.8
Team Averages 13 — 68.2 — 36.4 — 11.5

[PonyPride]

Tulsa missing a lot of dunks in pre-game warm-ups

[PonyPride]

Sam Griffin opens the scoring with a 3 ... after which he turns and points at the SMU bench while running upcourt. Couldn't tell what he said, if anything.

3-0 Tulsa

[PonyPride]

Griffin cans another 3.
Odigie responds with a lay-in

6-2

[PonyPride]

Phelps 3 closes it to 6-5