National Basketball Association
Southern Methodist 79, East Carolina 55
When: 6:15 PM ET, Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Where: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum, Greenville, North Carolina
Officials:
# Chris Beaver, # Ray Natali, # Antonio Petty
Attendance:
6022
By The Sports Xchange
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- SMU's first road game of the new year wasn't much of a threat to its perfect record, as the 10th-ranked Mustangs rolled over East Carolina 79-55 on Wednesday.
SMU (16-0, 5-0 American Athletic Conference) and South Carolina were the nation's only remaining unbeaten teams as Wednesday night's action began.
The Mustangs were playing their first road game since a Dec. 29 contest at Tulsa. East Carolina (8-9, 0-4) has played significantly better at home, but it could not provide much of a test for SMU, which never trailed.
"I was kind of in awe of that game," SMU coach Larry Brown said. "They just continue to try to make each other better and play like a team."
The Mustangs quickly turned an eight-point halftime advantage into a 58-36 lead by outscoring East Carolina 18-4 to start the second half.
SMU's advantage grew to 23 with 8:46 remaining when forward Markus Kennedy scored off an offensive rebound for a 68-45 advantage.
Forward Ben Moore led SMU's scorers with 17 points, while point guard and Wooden Award candidate Nic Moore had a career-best 12 assists. Forward Jordan Tolbert added 15 points and eight rebounds, and guard Shake Milton had 13 points.
"Their efficiency offensively is unlike any team I've seen in a long time," East Carolina coach Jeff Lebo said of the Mustangs. "They're a special team. They've got a special guy, I think, obviously, coaching them, and a special guy that's playing the point guard position. Nic Moore makes some passes out there that are just obscene."
Kennedy, who was limited much of the season with an ankle injury, finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Mustangs guard Sterling Brown also had 11 points.
Kennedy played 21 minutes after flying in from Dallas on Wednesday, a day later than the rest of his teammates.
"He didn't get to the game until 4:30," Brown said. "He had to take a final today. He's got a bad ankle. Obviously, you're proud of everybody, but you look at him and you really smile."
Guards Caleb White and B.J. Tyson each scored 15 points for East Carolina. Pirates reserve guard Lance Tejada added 10 points.
SMU led 40-32 at halftime after getting off to a blistering start. The Mustangs was up 21-6 six minutes into the game after a 14-2 run.
East Carolina climbed back into contention with an 8-0 run, the pulled within four at 32-28 after back-to-back finishes on fast breaks by Tyson.
Kennedy, who normally scores down low, nailed a 3-pointer just before halftime to give SMU an eight-point advantage.
Tyson and White each scored 10 points in the first half for East Carolina.
SMU was led by Ben Moore's 10 first-half points.
SMU, barred from postseason play because of NCAA violations, is playing with seven scholarship players. The Mustangs out-rebounded East Carolina, 42-22, and had 17 bench points to the Pirates' 12.
"You look what these kids have been through and virtually playing with seven guys," Brown said. "It's tough, and you have to have everybody playing at a high level. I looked at everybody's game and I felt like they all played at a high level."
Lebo said of the Pirates, "We didn't have enough tonight. We battled hard the first half. I thought we did some good things. We scored in transition, but inside we struggled. We just didn't have any kind of matchup there inside."
NOTES: SMU moved up five spots to No. 10 in the AP Top 25 this week, its first appearance in the Top 10 since the 1984-85 season when the Mustangs climbed to No. 2. ... The Mustangs came into the game having won 11 of their last 12 road games, going 3-0 this season. On the other side, East Carolina has been a much better team at home, where the Pirates were 7-1 coming into Wednesday's game. ... Before facing SMU, East Carolina was shooting better than 47 percent from the field at home and less than 37 percent on the road.
Top Game Performances
| Southern Methodist |
|
East Carolina |
|
Ben Moore 17 |
Scoring |
B.J. Tyson 15 |
|
Nic Moore 12 |
Assists |
Lance Tejada 3 |
|
Markus Kennedy 10 |
Rebounds |
Clarence Williams 5 |
|
Jordan Tolbert 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Kentrell Barkley 2 |
|
Ben Moore 4 |
Steals |
Kentrell Barkley 2 |
|
Sterling Brown 1 |
Blocks |
Michael Zangari 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Southern Methodist
|
79 |
52.5 |
11-22 |
6-10 |
23 |
39 |
5 |
8 |
14 |
| East Carolina
|
55 |
40.7 |
7-23 |
4-6 |
15 |
21 |
3 |
8 |
12 |
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