SMU Loses To Arkansas

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DALLAS (AP) — Bobby Portis scored 22 points and No. 25 Arkansas won its first game as a ranked team in seven years, beating previously ranked SMU 78-72 on Tuesday night.

The Razorbacks never trailed after Portis made a 3-pointer for the game’s first basket. They are 4-0 for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

SMU, coached by Larry Brown, was No. 22 in the AP Top 25 before consecutive road losses last week against No. 10 Gonzaga and Indiana.

The Mustangs (2-3) dropped out of the poll Monday, the same day that the Razorbacks got ranked for the first time since November 2007.

Yanick Moreira led SMU with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Keith Frazier added 16 points, while Nic Moore had 10 points and six assists.

Michael Qualls had 13 points and Rashad Madden 10 for the Razorbacks.

After trailing by as many as 19 points in the second half, the Mustangs were

within 73-68 on Moreira’s alley-oop dunk on a pass from Moore with 37 seconds left. That was as close as they got.

Arkansas stretched its lead to 50-31 on a jumper by Anton Beard with 13:38 left.

SMU then responded with its best spurt of the game, with Frazier and Moreira both scoring eight points in an 18-6 run over the next 4 1/2 minutes. The Mustangs were within 55-49 after Moreira’s jumper with just over nine minutes left.

Arkansas charged out to an 11-2 lead in the game’s first four minutes, getting that on Qualls’ strong inside basket. But Qualls was called for a technical foul when he shouted out and then was in Frazier’s face. Moore made both free throws for the Mustangs.

Ben Moore and Frazier had consecutive 3-pointers to get SMU within 15-12 with 10 minutes left in the first half. But just more than a minute later, Beard made a 3-pointer and Qualls later had an impressive one-handed dunk in traffic for the Razorbacks, who led 33-22 at halftime.

While outscored in the paint 32-28, the Razorbacks had an 18-9 edge in points off turnovers and 11-4 in second-chance points. The Mustangs had 16 turnovers in the first half, and four players had three each. They had only three turnovers as a team after halftime.

SMU turns around now and plays tomorrow night (Nov. 26) when the Mustangs welcome Texas Southern to Moody Coliseum. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. CT and the game is sold out. Reseller tickets can be purchased online at VividSeats.com.

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