Men’s Basketball Player McCoy to Transfer

By Nate Regan
nregan@smu.edu

SMU has confirmed that sophomore guard Paul McCoy is going to transfer to another school after asking to be released from his basketball scholarship.

In two seasons with the Mustangs, McCoy racked up 544 points, 137 assists and 73 steals.

As a freshman, McCoy led the team with 13.4 points per game while averaging 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and was named Co-MVP along with guard Derek Williams.

McCoy missed the final 10 games of his sophomore season with a torn ACL.

“We appreciate all that he accomplished here and wish him nothing but success in his future endeavors,” SMU Head Coach Matt Doherty said in a statement.

Schools wishing to speak to McCoy must be granted permission from SMU first.

Men’s Basketball Signs Highly Touted Player

By Robby Gillespie
rgillespie@smu.edu

SMU men’s basketball coach Matt Doherty announced the signing of Jeremiah Samarrippas, a senior at Bartow High School in Florida. Samarrippas will join the team next season.

The incoming freshman is a 5-10 guard who was named the 5A-Florida High School Athletic Association Player of the Year and finished third in Florida’s Mr. Basketball voting.

“Jeremiah is a consummate point guard and he is a winner,” Doherty said. “I am positive that he will make a great impact on SMU Basketball.”

As a senior, he led his team to a 25-5 record and the 5A State Championship while averaging 12.3 points, 7.3 assists, and 3.3 rebounds per game.

In his junior season he led his team to a 23-7 record and the 4A state semifinal as he earned third-team All-State honors. Samarrippas started all four years at the varsity level and helped Bartow High School to an 84-31 record during his career.

Williams Named Team MVP at Men’s Basketball Banquet

By Nate Regan
nregan@smu.edu

Graduating seniors Mouhammad Faye and Derek Williams were each honored and Williams named team MVP at the annual men’s basketball awards banquet Thursday, Apr. 15, at the Doubletree Campbell Center in Dallas.

Williams, who was named Co-MVP with Paul McCoy last year, led the Mustangs with 16.6 points per game this season, good for fourth among all Conference USA players.

He also paced the team with an average of 3.7 assists in 36.4 minutes per game.

Junior forward Papa Dia received seven team honors, including the Screener, Charges, Rebounder, Blocks / Deflections, Defensive and Most Improved awards.

Dia and Williams were also recognized for their selection to the 2010 All-Conference USA Third Team.

Faye was given the Good Plays award, McCoy was honored with the Hustle award and sophomore forward Robert Nyakundi earned the Coaches Award.

In addition, junior center Tomasz Kwiatkowski and freshman guard Austin Horn were each recognized with the team Academic Award.

SMU’s two all-conference players were the most since the 2001-02 season, and the team finished with its best conference record (7-9) since joining C-USA in 2005.

The Mustangs held C-USA opponents to just 61.0 points per game, their best scoring defense in league play since allowing an average of 60.9 points per game in the Southwest Conference in 1958-59.

Baylor Falls to Duke in Elite Eight

By Nate Regan
nregan@smu.edu

The Duke Blue Devils became the only No. 1 seed to advance to this year’s Final Four with a 78-71 win Sunday over Baylor University at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

The No. 3 Bears led the Blue Devils at the half, 35-32, but guards Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith combined for 49 points for Duke in the comeback victory.

The Blue Devils will take on West Virginia University Saturday in the school’s first Final Four appearance since 2004.

Baylor advanced to the Elite Eight with a 72-49 win Friday over Saint Mary’s College at Reliant Stadium.

Junior guard LaceDarius Dunn led all scorers with 23 points while senior guard Tweety Carter added 14 points against the Gaels.

On Thursday, Butler University upset the top-seeded Syracuse Orange, 63-59, to earn a spot in the Elite Eight against No. 2 Kansas State.

The No. 5 Bulldogs pulled off another upset Saturday against the Wildcats, 63-56, and is headed to the Final Four for the first time in school history.

Butler will face the Michigan State Spartans this Saturday for a spot in the championship game, which will be played Monday, Apr. 5, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.

The Spartans edged past the Tennessee Volunteers, 70-69, on Sunday to earn their spot in the Final Four.

Baylor Advances to Sweet 16

By Nate Regan
nregan@smu.edu

As one of two schools from Texas to advance past the first round in the 2010 Division I Men’s Basketball Championship tournament, Baylor University beat the Old Dominion Monarchs Saturday by a score of 76-68.

The Bears were led by 26 points from junior guard LaceDarius Dunn and eight rebounds from senior center Josh Lomers.

Baylor (27-7) will face the St. Mary’s Gaels (28-5) in the South Regional semifinal Friday at 6:27 p.m. at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

The top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks became the first No. 1 seed to fall when they were upset by Northern Iowa on Saturday.

On Sunday, the Purdue Boilermakers came from behind to beat the Texas A&M Aggies in overtime, 63-61.

Syracuse, Kentucky and Duke each advanced past the second round and secured a spot in the Sweet 16.

The national championship game will take place Monday, Apr. 5, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.

Four Texas Teams Ousted in Round 1 of NCAA Tournament

By Nate Regan
nregan@smu.edu

With no SMU team to cheer for in the NCAA Championship tournament, local fans were left to root for six other Texas schools who made the field of 64 in the 2010 Division I Men’s Basketball Championship tournament.

On Thursday, the University of North Texas was routed by Kansas State, 82-62, in Oklahoma City before the regular-season Conference USA champion University of Texas-El Paso fell to the Butler Bulldogs, 77-59, in San Jose, Calif.

The previously top-ranked Texas Longhorns were upset in overtime, 81-80, by the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in New Orleans.

Baylor University became the only Texas team to win Thursday when it defeated the Sam Houston State Bearkats, 68-59, also in New Orleans.

The No. 3-seeded Bears will face the No. 11 Old Dominion Monarchs Saturday at 4:45 p.m.

Texas A&M University beat Utah State Friday by a score of 69-53 in Spokane, Wash., to advance past the first round for the fifth year in a row.

The Aggies will play Purdue University Sunday at 4 p.m. in Spokane.

And in the last game of the first round, the C-USA Championship tournament Houston Cougars fell to the Maryland Terrapins, 89-77.

All four No. 1 seeds in the tournament – Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky and Duke – won their first-round matchups to advance.

The national championship game will take place Monday, Apr. 5, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.

Mustangs Fall Short in Tulsa, 58-55

By Nate Regan
nregan@smu.edu

The men’s basketball team remains in a three-way tie for the final seed in next week’s Conference USA tournament after a 58-55 loss Wednesday to the University of Tulsa.

Senior guard Derek Williams led SMU (14-15, 7-8 C-USA) with 15 points and four assists.

Forwards Mouhammad Faye and Robert Nyakundi each contributed 13 points against the Golden Hurricane (21-9, 10-5 C-USA), but the rest of the team combined to score just 14 total points.

“I was proud of our guys,” head coach Matt Doherty said in a post-game radio interview. “I’m proud of our effort and that we didn’t hang our head in spite of a lot of adversity.”

Though the Mustangs had more rebounds (35 to 30) and more steals (10 to 1) than Tulsa, the Golden Hurricane shot 22-for-44 on the game while SMU went just 20-for-54.

Senior guard Ben Uzoh led Tulsa with 20 points, and center Jerome Jordan added 12 points with a game-high 13 rebounds.

“I think our transition defense wasn’t up to par,” Doherty said. “We let Uzoh get too much in transition, and as a result they shot 50 percent.”

The Mustangs will play their final regular-season game of the year on Saturday when they host Marshall University.

Mouhammad Faye and Derek Williams will each be recognized prior to the game as part of SMU Senior Night activities.

“I’ll be shocked if we don’t bounce back with a great effort Saturday against Marshall,” Doherty said. “And we need people to come out … We need that home-court advantage.”

Tip-off against the Thundering Herd (22-8, 10-5 C-USA) is set for 7 p.m. at Moody Coliseum.

Mustangs Hang On for 59-54 Win at ECU

By Nate Regan
nregan@smu.edu

The men’s basketball team kept its post-season hopes alive Wednesday with a 59-54 win over East Carolina University at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, N.C.

SMU (13-14, 6-7 Conference USA) was led by 13 points and three assists from senior guard Derek Williams and seven rebounds from sophomore guard Justin Haynes.

Junior forward Papa Dia added 10 points while he and sophomore forward Robert Nyakundi each grabbed six rebounds.

The Mustangs led the Knights (9-18, 3-10 C-USA) for most of the game and connected on seven of their 18 three-pointers, including a perfect 2-for-2 from junior guard Mike Walker.

“We didn’t play great,” head coach Matt Doherty said in a post-game radio interview. “In a lot of ways it was an ugly game, but we won.”

After the score was tied at 15, SMU went on an 11-0 run and took a 26-20 lead into halftime.

ECU used an 11-for-14 performance from the free throw line to cut the lead to one point late in the second half, but a three-pointer by Nyakundi put the Mustangs up by five with just over a minute to play.

“Rob came up with big plays and he hit that big three,” Doherty said, “and we expect that from him. He’s one of the best shooters I’ve coached.”

Nyakundi, Williams and senior forward Mouhammad Faye each hit key free throws down the stretch to help seal the win for SMU.

“It’s a real tribute, I think, to this team to not play great and win on the road,” Doherty said. “We’re thrilled, we’re in the hunt.”

The Mustangs return to the Hilltop for their second-to-last home game of the regular season when they host the University of Houston (14-13, 6-7 C-USA) on Saturday.

Tip-off against the Cougars is set for 7 p.m. at Moody Coliseum.

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Doherty Criticized for Interaction with Memphis Crowd

By Nate Regan
nregan@smu.edu

SMU men’s basketball head coach Matt Doherty has received criticism in the blogosphere the last couple of days for his “give-and-take” comments at the end of Saturday’s 76-63 loss to the University of Memphis at FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn.

In the game’s final minutes, Doherty could be seen exchanging not-so-pleasantries with members of the Memphis crowd near the Mustangs’ bench.

One site reported that when Tigers fans began “jawing at Doherty … the coach reportedly wheeled around and started dishing some smack talk right back.”

The Jackson Sun — which called Doherty’s actions “a disgrace” — was more specific, quoting the coach as saying:

• “At least I went to a real college and not Memphis Tech!”
• “At least my guys actually take their SATs!”
• “They need to take all those championship banners down because that school doesn’t exist anymore!”

In a post-game radio interview, Doherty said, “It’s fun, I enjoy that. Memphis is a basketball town … The fans here are good, they give-and take. They give me a hard time, I give them a hard time, and it’s all in fun.”

The Dallas Morning News also reported that a “skirmish” occurred between the two teams as they headed to the locker rooms following the game, but it amounted to nothing more than talking.

Doherty and the Mustangs play their next game on the road as well, this time against the East Carolina University Pirates on Thursday.

The game, which will be nationally-televised on CBS College Sports, will tip off at 6 p.m. in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, N.C.

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