Milton Leads SMU Past UConn

By Ken Davis, The Sports Xchange

HARTFORD, Conn. — SMU is riding an 11-game win streak under coach Tim Jankovich, is battling Cincinnati for the top seed in the American Athletic Conference tournament and last lost on Jan. 12.
Jankovich is on the verge of recording one of the best records for a first-season coach ever at a Division I school.
With all that going for him and the Mustangs, Jankovich knows his team still is flying under the radar as the NCAA Tournament approaches.
“We know that? Is that a fact?” Jankovich said Saturday after a 69-61 win over Connecticut, alluding to the fact that there is a lot of time before Selection Sunday on March 12. “If we lost four or five in a row, are we still in? I can’t stand all (the bracketology) because it’s like a poisonous snake. … But I do kinda (like our position).”
SMU (25-4, 15-1 AAC) didn’t resemble a tournament sleeper against the Huskies at the XL Center. Led by guard Shake Milton, the Mustangs put together a lethal display of shooting and four players scored in double figures as SMU defeated Connecticut (14-14, 9-7) in a game heavy in implications for the AAC standings.
Milton, a sophomore shooting 41 percent from 3-point range this season, matched his career high with six threes in the first half and finished with 20 points.
Milton was 7-for-14 overall from the field and missed only one 3-point shot in the first 20 minutes as the Mustangs built a 41-30 lead at the break.
The Huskies got as close as five points in the second half but Ben Emelogu’s layup ended the rally and a layup by Milton two minutes later had SMU’s lead back to 11.
“(Connecticut) has a good team and we were playing on the road,” Ojeleye said. “You have to expect them to make runs. It’s tough but we have a lot of good shooters.”
Semi Ojeleye added 16 points, Ben Moore chipped in with 15 and Sterling Brown had 11 for SMU.
Connecticut was 2-for-10 on 3-pointers in the first half and shot only 39.7 for the game overall.
Forward Kentan Facey scored 15 points for the Huskies, including nine in the first half, but leading scorer Jalen Adams sustained a moderate left ankle sprain right before halftime and did not return. He scored four points on 1-for-6 shooting in 16 minutes. His status for Wednesday’s game at East Carolina will be determined later in the week.
“Nobody wanted Jalen to get hurt,” Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie said, “Especially Jalen. But it happens.”
Milton was the only SMU player with more than one 3-pointer, but half of the Mustangs’ 26 shots in the half were long range. Milton led all scorers at halftime with 18 points, almost five points better than his season average.
“We have a lot of good shooters,” Jankovich said. “This is what has happened all year long. You never know where the fire may break out. Obviously Shake was amazing carrying us in the first half.”
Connecticut, trying to finish in the top five of the AAC standings and earn a bye for the conference tournament that begins March 9 at the XL Center, opened the game with a 4-1 lead.
But SMU turned the momentum by rolling off 13 unanswered points. Milton’s first 3-pointer with 15:33 remaining in the half gave the Mustangs a 14-4 lead,
SMU increased the margin 16 with 8:04 remaining when Milton hit another 3-pointer.

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