SMU looks to continue its impressive run in one of the nation’s toughest leagues when it squares off with gritty Pittsburgh in an Atlantic Coast Conference clash Tuesday in Dallas.
The Mustangs (18-5, 9-3 ACC) have won four straight games, but they haven’t played since earning an 81-75 victory Wednesday at Virginia Tech. Matt Cross led SMU with 21 points and seven rebounds in the win. Chuck Harris added 20 points, including 13 of them over the final 12 minutes, as the Mustangs closed the game strong.
It was a balanced scoring effort for SMU in the win over Virginia Tech. Samet Yigitoglu added 12 points. Kario Oquendo finished with 11 points, and Boopie Miller hit for 10. It marked the 11th time this year that the Mustangs had at least five players in double-figure scoring.
SMU also committed a season-low six turnovers in the victory.
“That’s a credit to our players and our guards — they did a really good job,” SMU coach Andy Enright said. “One of the turnovers was an offensive foul on a screen, so really (it was) five. We took care of the ball. We shared it. Had 16 assists, only six turnovers. That’s a formula to give yourself a chance to win.”
SMU has captured seven of its past eight games and is 7-1 since opening the ACC campaign with a home loss to now-No. 3 Duke and a 15-point defeat at North Carolina.
The Panthers (14-9, 5-7 ACC) remain on the road after a 66-67 loss at North Carolina on Saturday. Cameron Corhen led Pitt with 17 points while Jaland Lowe added 15 in a game that featured 13 lead changes and 11 ties.
After North Carolina took the lead on a jumper with 52 seconds remaining, Lowe missed two close shots that could have put Pitt back in front. Later, the Tar Heels left open the door by missing a clutch free throw — but the Panthers’ Ishmael Leggett came up short on a buzzer-beating floater.
Pitt has dropped three games in a row and seven of its past nine. Seven of the Panthers’ nine losses have come in Quad 1 games and five of the Quad 1 setbacks have been by six points or fewer. They have dropped to 47th in the NCAA’s NET rankings, seven slots behind SMU. If you’re in the 40s, you’re generally considered to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
“We’re losing the games ourselves,” said Pitt forward Zack Austin. “At the end of the day, it’s up to us to fix it. Just be where your feet are. We can’t change the past. We can’t do anything about that now. We’ve just got to go win these next eight games.”
The Panthers’ starting backcourt of Leggett and Lowe have combined to score an average of 33.0 points per game. Junior guard Damian Dunn, who was averaging 9.9 points and shooting 41.2 percent on 3-pointers as the third guard in Pitt’s lineup, fractured his elbow at North Carolina and is likely done for the season.
–Field Level Media
