Second-half run lifts SMU to 78-65 road win over UCF
A lot happened where things could have went south for SMU basketball. But Saturday was a huge day for the Mustangs.
So much happened Saturday afternoon that was unorthodox for this season's SMU basketball team.
For starters, the Mustangs played UCF without head coach Tim Jankovich, who had negative COVID-19 testing but a low-grade fever on Friday. Assistant coach Jay Duncan also didn't make the trip for SMU. Assistant Yaphett King handled active duties, along with newest assistant John Cooper.
Add in that SMU welcomed the return of guard Tyson Jolly to the fold on Sautrday. Jolly, a preseason all-conference guard and last season's leading scorer, hadn't played all season because of personal reasons.
With all that, SMU still managed to score a key road victory, despite not playing in 12 days. The Mustangs topped UCF, 78-65, at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida.
It was a clutch victory for an SMU team that's still in the hunt for an American Athletic Conference regular-season championship. SMU (8-2, 4-2 in AAC) has now won back-to-back games -- after dropping two in a row -- and jumped into a tie with Wichita State for second place in the AAC standings.
UCF was held without a field goal for the final 5:13 of the game. The Knights (3-6, 1-5) made only one of their last 12 shots, including zero of their last nine.
SMU trailed, 33-32, at the half but used a 12-2 run in the first part of the second half to take a commanding lead. A layup near the 15-minute mark by Kendric Davis -- who had another big day overall -- gave the Mustangs a 45-44 and the lead for good.
SMU saw a scare near the seven-minute mark of the second half, as UCF used back-to-back 3-pointers in a five-second span to cut a nine-point lead to three. But the Mustangs remained poised and outscored UCF, 17-7, in the final six minutes of the game.
Saturday was a game where Davis, the AAC's leader in scoring and assists, finished with 21 points and nine assists. Davis also had five rebounds in the win.
Three other Mustangs finished with double figures in scoring. Yor Anei had 12 points and made 5 of 7 shots. He also had four blocked shots, all proving to be key in SMU pulling away from the Knights.
Feron Hunt once again flirted with a double-double, as he had 11 points and eight rebounds. Emmanuel Bandoumel added 11 points for the Mustangs. Darius Perry led UCF with 14 points. Brandon Mahan, the team's leading scorer, was held to 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting.
Jolly finished with five points on 2-of-7 shooting for SMU. He played 18 minutes and came of the bench seeing his first action with 15:15 in the first half.
SMU next prepares to travel to Tennessee, as the Mustangs face Memphis Tuesday evening. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.