SMU blew a 12-point second-half lead and squandered a chance to bolster its at-large resume Saturday in Syracuse, falling 79-78 after Nate Kingz banked home a driving layup with two seconds remaining.
The Mustangs missed two free throws and four straight field goals in the final 90 seconds. They watched Kiyan Anthony, the freshman son of Carmelo, torch them for 13 second-half points, including three 3-pointers.
The Mustangs dominated the glass but couldn’t finish the game, collecting 16 offensive rebounds and converting them into a 27-6 edge in second-chance points, yet still found a way to lose to an Orange team that had lost five of its previous six games.
And now they host No. 21 Louisville tonight (6 p.m. CT, ESPN2) with their NCAA Tournament hopes hanging by threads.
Why SMU Can’t Close Games in the ACC
The Syracuse collapse wasn’t an isolated incident. SMU is 6-6 in conference play, sitting in eighth place in the ACC with five games separating them from Duke in the loss column. The Mustangs have dropped three of their last five, and each loss has followed a familiar script: competitive through 35 minutes, then unable to execute when it matters most.
Against the Orange, SMU led 61-49 with just over 12 minutes remaining. Syracuse looked dead. Then the Mustangs went cold. Boopie Miller, the ACC’s sixth-leading scorer at 18.9 points per game, finished with just 11 on 3-of-10 shooting.
Jaron Pierre Jr. has been on a tear lately, including back-to-back 20-point games against Pitt and Notre Dame, but he couldn’t find shots in the closing stretch. SMU turned a comfortable cushion into a one-possession game, then handed the ball back to Syracuse with 13.7 seconds left trailing by one.
Kingz didn’t miss.
The defensive issues are glaring. Donnie Freeman finished with 18 points and a career-high four blocks for Syracuse, and despite SMU’s advantage on the offensive glass, the Mustangs couldn’t convert when it mattered against a team that had been struggling all season. Anthony’s second-half explosion, which included a three-point play that gave Syracuse its first lead in 30 minutes of game time, exposed SMU’s perimeter defense when it mattered most.
Coach Andy Enfield’s team entered the season with NCAA Tournament expectations after a strong debut campaign in the ACC. But the resume is becoming problematic. SMU has struggled against top competition and sits 36th in the NET rankings. The wins over North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Texas A&M look nice, but the committee will notice the pattern of fading down the stretch in marquee games.
A Must-Win Against a Surging Louisville Team
Tonight presents both opportunity and danger. Louisville arrives in Dallas riding a five-game winning streak after dismantling NC State 118-77 and beating Baylor 82-71 at a neutral site. Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. has been electric, scoring 29 points against the Bears. The Cardinals have won the last five meetings against SMU, including an 88-74 victory in Louisville on Jan. 31.
The Mustangs are 13-2 at Moody Coliseum this season, and they’ll need that home-court advantage to have any chance. The blueprint is clear: Miller and Pierre must attack early and often, taking pressure off the perimeter shooting that abandoned them in Syracuse. SMU leads the ACC in scoring offense at 86.2 points per game, and Enfield’s pace-and-space system can overwhelm opponents when it clicks.
But Louisville’s defense has tightened considerably in recent weeks, and Brown’s ability to create looks for shooters like Isaac McKneely and Ryan Conwell makes the Cardinals dangerous in transition.
A loss tonight likely ends any realistic at-large discussion for SMU. A win keeps them alive, barely, with Boston College and road trips to California and Stanford still to come. The margin for error is gone. The Mustangs have proven they can build leads. The question remains whether they can hold them.