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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Southern Methodist 74, East Carolina 68
When: 12:00 PM ET, Friday, March 13, 2015
Where: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Officials: # Duke Edsall, # Brent Hampton, # Alfred Smith
Attendance: N/A

No. 21 SMU 74, East Carolina 68: Nic Moore collected 20 points and five assists as the Mustangs survived a scare from the Pirates in the American Athletic Conference quarterfinals in Hartford, Conn.

Markus Kennedy added 15 points and six rebounds for No. 1 seed SMU (25-6), which takes on fourth-seeded Temple in Saturday’s semifinals. Yanick Moreira contributed 10 points and six boards as the Mustangs used a 13-6 advantage on the offensive glass to help overcome a 3-point barrage.

Antonio Robinson scored a career-high 18 points to go with six assists and six rebounds while joining Terry Whisnant and Caleb White with four 3-pointers apiece for No. 8 seed East Carolina (14-19). Whisnant finished with 18 points and White had 14 for the Pirates.

Moore had five points and three assists in a 15-3 run that put SMU up 59-51 with just under nine minutes to play. East Carolina hit three 3-pointers in a row and took a 62-61 lead on Robinson’s free throws before Kennedy converted back-to-back three-point plays as the Mustangs went back on top for good.

The Pirates hit six 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes and led by as much as 10 points early in the first half before SMU used a 12-0 run to take the lead and went into the break up 37-32. East Carolina got hot from beyond the arc again early in the second, connecting on three straight possessions to spark a 16-4 run that left it on top 48-44 with just over 14 minutes to play.

GAME NOTEBOOK: East Carolina finished with a season-high 15 3-pointers on 35 attempts. … The Mustangs had 20 more free-throw attempts (19-of-28) than the Pirates (7-of-8). … Moore, who was named the conference Player of the Year, reached 20 points for the first time since Feb. 7.
Top Game Performances
 
East Carolina   Southern Methodist
Antonio Robinson 18 Scoring Nic Moore 20
Antonio Robinson 6 Assists Nic Moore 5
Antonio Robinson 6 Rebounds Sterling Brown 6
Antonio Robinson 2 Free Throws Made Markus Kennedy 7
Antonio Robinson 3 Steals Markus Kennedy 3
B.J. Tyson 2 Blocks Markus Kennedy 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
East Carolina 68 44.2 15-35 7-8 16 25 6 6 14
Southern Methodist 74 47.3 3-9 19-28 16 29 2 11 9