SMU Defeats East Carolina
DALLAS — SMU point guard Nic Moore caught fire in the second half Sunday to lead the No. 21-ranked Mustangs to a 74-63 win over East Carolina.
Moore led all scorers with 22 points after going 4-of-6 from 3-point range in the second half. Moore left to a standing ovation from the Moody Coliseum crowd when he subbed out with 20 seconds left.
“Whenever he gets hot, you just keep feeding him,” SMU guard Shake Milton said. “Every time he puts it up, you think it’s going in.”
SMU (22-4, 10-4 in the American Athletic Conference) also got a strong second half from forward Markus Kennedy, who scored 13 of his 19 points in the final 10 minutes.
Kennedy had nine rebounds and fellow forward Jordan Tolbert had
12. Overall, SMU out-rebounded East Carolina 41-17.
East Carolina (10-7, 2-12 in the AAC) was in contention much of the game thanks to a 3-point barrage from guard Prince Williams and forward Kentrell Barkley, who both were 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
Overall, East Carolina was 12-of-24 from beyond the arc but just 5-of-13 from the free throw line.
“We knew we had to make at least 10 threes to have a chance,” East Carolina coach Jeff Lebo said. “We had to play small in order for us to get the threes up and that obviously hurts us on the other end.”
Williams led the Pirates, who have lost six in a row, with 20 points while Barkley pumped in 15 and Caleb White 14.
East Carolina shot 56 percent in the first half, but cooled to 39 percent in the second as SMU’s Moore heated up.
Moore hit 3-pointers on three consecutive trips down the floor during a 12-3 run to give SMU a 50-41 lead early in the second half.
The 5-foot-9 Moore, who also had seven assists, turned in another performance that should enhance his candidacy for multiple National Player of the Year awards.
“Nic Moore, he gives them whatever they need, every game,” Lebo said. “Whether it’s a 3-point shot, an assist, a steal, taking a charge, whether it’s making somebody miss. We had five layups in the second half, three of them he made us miss at 5-9. He just makes winning plays. He is two plays ahead, offensively and defensively.
The Mustangs got their first double-digit lead, 53-43, on a tip-in by forward Ben Moore with 13:48 remaining.
After ECU guard Caleb White answered with a 3-pointer of his own, SMU’s Nic Moore nailed his fourth trey of the half for a 56-46 lead with 12:26 left.
SMU held a 36-35 lead at halftime despite seven 3-pointers by East Carolina. Barkley was 4-of-5 on 3-pointers for 12 points in the half.
The Pirates made five of their first seven attempts from 3-point range to charge out to a 23-17 lead. They eventually cooled off to 50 percent (7-of-14) from 3-point range in the first half.
SMU worked its way back to into a tie, 26-26, after a pair of Nic Moore jumpers.
East Carolina forward Clarence Williams hit back-to-back jumpers to start a 9-2 run for the Pirates and 35-28 lead with 4:20 until halftime.
Kennedy dominated for SMU in the final 10 minutes, scoring 11 points in a six-minute span, including a dunk with 4:36 left for a 70-57 lead.
SMU then reeled off the last eight points of the half, including a pair of buckets by forward Kennedy, to lead by one at the break.
The win put SMU, which is banned from the post-season for NCAA violations, a half-game out of the lead in the AAC, pending first-place Temple’s game at Houston on Sunday night.
“We’re in the position we want to be in — it’s all on us,” Kennedy said. “I feel like the pressure is on every other team in our conference to not lose. Because we’re not losing no more.”
