DALLAS, TEXAS — SMU Basketball played Memphis for the 2nd time in 3 days on Thursday night, evening the series with a 67-65 win. The Mustangs are 9-3 overall and 5-3 in the American Athletic Conference. The Tigers are 9-6 on the year and 5-3 in the AAC. SMU Head Coach, Tim Jankovich did not coach tonight because he tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday. Both teams’ coaches wore sneakers in support of Coaches vs. Cancer, which has raised 125 million dollars for research since 1993.
The Mustangs came out hot, building a 7-0 lead in the first few minutes of the game. They maintained that lead throughout the first half, taking a 10-point lead to the break.
Memphis started to cut the lead after some halftime defensive adjustments. SMU wasn’t able to drive the line the way they had in the beginning of the game and it was down to a 1-point with 4 and a half minutes left.
It was back and forth from there, SMU holding a 1-point lead with a minute to go. Emmanual Bandoumel was fouled on the next SMU possession and hit 2 huge free throws, making it 67-64. Tyson Jolly fouled on Memphis’ 3-point attempt and Boogie Ellis missed 2 of the free throws, giving the Mustangs a 2-point lead as time expired.
Feron Hunt led SMU with 17-points, followed by Bandoumel with 15-points and Ethan Chargois with 13-points. Chargois hit 3 3-pointers.
The Mustangs have had some schedule changes and will continue to work on rescheduling the games that have been postponed. As of now, SMU’s next game will be Sunday at Houston.
