M-Basketball: Hosts Marshall On Saturday At 7 p.m. - SMUMUSTANGS.COM - The Official Athletic Site of SMU Mustangs

M-Basketball: Hosts Marshall On Saturday At 7 p.m.
Senior Night For Mouhammad Faye And Derek Williams

	Derek Williams is 4th in C-USA at 16.9 points per game

March 5, 2010

MARSHALL Thundering Herd (22-8, 10-5 C-USA)
at
SMU Mustangs (14-15, 7-8 C-USA)
Sat. March 6 - 7 p.m.
Moody Coliseum (8,998)
Dallas, Texas
TV: TWC Metro Sports/TTC (Pete Stein, Bruce Wiseman)
Radio: KAAM 770 AM (Rich Phillips, Allen Stone)
Internet: SMUMustangs.com

Complete Game Notes

The SMU Mustangs host Marshall in the regular-season finale on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. This is senior night for Mouhammad Faye and Derek Williams as they play their final game at Moody Coliseum. They will be honored in a pregame ceremony.

SMU is looking to finish .500 overall in the regular season and in Conference USA. SMU has already accomplished its highest win total in league play since joining C-USA in 2005-06. SMU is 4-1 in its last five league home games.

SMU and Marshall are also playing for seeding in the GMC Sierra C-USA Championship at the Bank of Oklahoma Center in Tulsa from March 10-13. Marshall will be the four or five seed and SMU will be the sixth, seventh or eighth seed.

SMU is coming off a 58-55 loss at Tulsa which saw senior Derek Williams lead SMU with 15 points and play the final 11 minutes after suffering a sprained right ankle. Mouhammad Faye and Robert Nyakundi each had 13 points as SMU rallied from a nine-point deficit to within one in the final minute. Papa Dia had seven points and six rebounds while being limited to 24 minutes with foul trouble.

SMU ranks second in C-USA in scoring defense in league play, allowing just 60.2 points per game. In C-USA games, the Mustangs have held opponents 12.2 points off their scoring average. Ten of 15 foes have been held below their average with ten of them at least 11 points under their average. Three C-USA opponents have not reached 50 points. That marks the first time SMU has held three league opponents below 50 points since the 1957-58 season. The scoring defense in league play is the best for SMU since holding opponents to 52.3 per Southwest Conference game in 1951-52. SMU did hold league foes to 60.9 per outing in 1958-59.

C-USA CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING SCENARIOS: SMU can finish as the 6th, 7th or 8th seed in the GMC Sierra Conference USA Championship at the Bank of Oklahoma Center in Tulsa. The first round is Wednesday, March 10. SIXTH IF: SMU wins, Houston loses, and Southern Miss loses, SMU will be the 6 seed in the C-USA Tournament and face 11 seed Tulane in the first round at 2:30 p.m. If advancing SMU, would face No. 3 seed UAB on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. SEVENTH IF: SMU wins, and only one of Houston and Southern Miss lose, SMU will be the 7 seed in the C-USA Tournament and face 10 seed East Carolina in the first round at Noon. If advancing, SMU would face No. 2 seed Memphis on Thursday at Noon. EIGHTH IF: SMU loses, or both Houston and Southern Miss win, SMU will be the 8-seed in the C-USA Tournament, and face 9-seed UCF in the first round at 8:30 p.m. If advancing, SMU would face top-seeded and C-USA regular-season champion on Thursday at 9 p.m.

Papa Dia: averaging 12.3 points (17th C-USA), 8.6 rebounds (5th C-USA), 1.3 blks (6th C-USA), 1.2 asts, and 0.9 stls while hitting 54.8% (4th C-USA) and 80.2% FTs (5th C-USA). He has 8 or more rebounds 16 times this season. His 3.1 offensive rebounds per game are 3rd in C-USA. In C-USA games, he is at 13.6 points (14th C-USA), 8.8 rebounds (5th C-USA), and 1.5 blocks (4th C-USA). DOUBLE-DOUBLES: He has nine double-doubles on the season, which is the most by an SMU player since Ike Ofoegbu (oh-fway-boo) had 10 in 2006-07. SWEET 16: His 16 rebounds at Tulane are tied for the second-most in a C-USA game this year and tied for the most by an SMU player in a C-USA game (Ike Ofoegbu at Marshall 2/14/07). 500 & COUNTING: He has 558 career rebounds, ranking 24th at SMU. HUGE GAMES: Had 23 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal in 70-60 win vs. Memphis. Had career-high 31 points with 12 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 assists, and a steal in 94-83 win vs. Houston. Had 17 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block in the 66-48 win at Tulane.

Derek Williams: leads the team in scoring at 16.9 per game (4th C-USA) and has scored 20 or more points 10 times, including 6 C-USA games. He has 10 or more points in all but 4 games this year. He is averaging 3.7 assists (10th C-USA) and has a 1.5 assist/turnover ratio (9th C-USA) in 36.2 minutes per game (3rd C-USA). In league play, he is averaging 17.1 points (4th C-USA), 4.1 assists (8th C-USA) and has a 1.6 assist/turnover ratio (10th C-USA) while shooting 42.4% FG (14th C-USA) and 36.8% 3FG. He has played 40 minutes in nine C-USA games and has only missed 13 minutes of game time in league play. DOUBLE-DOUBLE: In the 65-43 win vs. UCF on 1/27, he had 12 points and a career-high 10 assists for SMU's first points-assists double-double since 11/24/02 (Bryan Hopkins vs. TCU 12 pts, 10 ast). TOEING THE LINE: He is 135-178 at the FT line. His 135 makes is 13th in a season and the 178 attempts rank 19th in a season. In the 70-60 win over Memphis, ha had 25 points (19 2nd half) that included going 14-15 FTs (11-12 last 2 minutes). 800 IN 2 YEARS/500 IN ONE: He has 870 points at SMU and is just the 18th Mustang to have at least 800 points in any 2-year span. He has 490 points this season and would be just the 17th player to score 500 points in a season and the first since Bryan Hopkins (514) in 2003-04. SMU BEST IN C-USA: He is 4th in C-USA in scoring and is on pace to be the highest ranked scorer for SMU since joining C-USA in 2005-06 (Bryan Hopkins 7th in 2005-06 at 14.5 points. It would be the highest league rank for an SMU player since Hopkins finished 3rd in the Western Athletic Conference in 2003-04 at 17.7 points.)

LAST GAME (Feb. 27 vs. Houston, W, 94-83): DALLAS (AP) - Papa Dia had a career-high 31 points while Robert Nyakundi and Derek Williams added 18 points each as SMU defeated Houston 94-83 on Saturday night. Mouhammad Faye had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Mustangs (14-14, 7-7 overall), who beat Houston for the first time in eight games since joining C-USA in 2005-06. Aubrey Coleman had 30 points and nine rebounds for the Cougars (14-14, 6-8), and Adam Brown added 17 points. Dia had 12 rebounds for his ninth double-double this season. SMU, which trailed 39-33 at halftime, was on fire in the second half, shooting 66.7 percent (16 of 24) with nine 3-pointers. Houston helped by getting whistled for 15 fouls--the Mustangs shot 23 free throws after intermission, making 20.

THE SERIES VS. MARSHALL (0-4): The Mustangs and Thundering Herd are meeting for the fifth time with Marshall winning the first four in nail-biting fashion by a total of 10 points. All four have come since the teams became Conference USA foes. In the first meeting, the Mustangs fell 75-72 in overtime in Dallas on Feb. 15, 2006. Bryan Hopkins attempted a game-tying 3-pointer with 13 seconds left; then after Marshall's Chris Ross missed the front-end of a one-and-one for Marshall, SMU's Dez Willingham had his three-pointer miss at the buzzer. The Mustangs then fell 52-49 at Marshall on Feb. 14, 2007 when Dez Willinghams' tying 3-point attempt from the right wing missed as time expired. SMU then fell 75-74 at home on Feb. 13, 2008, when Mark Dorris hit a 3-pointer for Marshall with 0.7 seconds left. The fourth meeting saw Markel Humphrey bank in a 75-foot shot at the buzzer for a 53-50 Marshall victory in Huntington on Jan. 21, 2009. The heave immediately followed a missed elbow-jumper by SMU's Derek Williams.

LAST SEASON VS. MARSHALL (Jan. 21 at Marshall L, 53-50): HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Markel Humphrey made a 75-foot bank shot as time expired to lift Marshall to a 53-50 win over SMU. Humphrey scored nine points for the Thundering Herd (9-9, 2-2 Conference USA), who also got 12 points from reserve Chris Lutz -- the only Marshall player to score in double figures. Lutz, who shot 4 of 10 from beyond the arc, made a 3-pointer with 3:49 left in the second half to give the Thundering Herd a 50-47 lead. The Mustangs (6-10, 1-3) tied the game at 50 on Mouhammad Faye's 3-pointer with 1:51 remaining. Derek Williams could have won the game for SMU with a jumper, but his shot missed and Humphrey got the rebound with 4 seconds left. He then hit the game-winner for Marshall. Faye led SMU with 17 points and Derek Williams added 14. Damier Pitts finished with eight assists for the Thundering Herd.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
RODNEY CLINSCALES: Is averaging 4.5 points while shooting 37.7 percent from 3-point range (23-61).

Mouhammad Faye: averaging career-bests of 10.8 points (3rd on team, 23rd C-USA) and 5.4 rebounds (2nd on team, 18th C-USA). In the last seven games, he is averaging 13.4 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 53.2 percent (33-62) and 48.5 percent from 3-point range (16-33). He has scored in double figures in six of the last seven games with team-highs of 19 points against UTEP and 18 points at Memphis. DOUBLE-DOUBLES: He has two on the season, most recently with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the win against Houston. His first was 11 points and 12 rebounds against TCU on Dec. 2.

Justin Haynes: is averaging 5.5 points while shooting 60-for-100 on FGs (.600) for the season. He has scored 10 or more points five times this season. SMU is 7-1 when he leads the team in steals.

Paul McCoy: suffered a season-ending right knee injury at Southern Miss on Feb. 2. He was averaging 7.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals. He is also averaging 1.5 steals for his career, which ranks 8th at SMU.

Robert Nyakundi: in C-USA games, he is averaging 9.1 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 38.0 per-cent (30-79) from 3-point range (7th C-USA) and making 2.0 3FGs per game (T-8th C-USA). He was limited by knee and foot injuries for most of the non-conference schedule. He hit 11 straight 3-pointers earlier this season by making his last 2 at Rice 1/20, going 5-5 vs. Houston Baptist 1/23 and making his first four 3FG against UCF 1/27. BEYOND THE ARC: He ranks 4th at SMU in career 3FG percentage at 40.6 (84-207). His 41.9% this season would rank 8th at SMU. FREE POINTS: At the free throw line, he is 33-38 (.868) for the season and 27-31 (.871) in C-USA. He hit 18 straight before missing his last one at Houston on Feb. 13. He hit 27 straight in C-USA before that miss at Houston and is 35-40 (.875) for his career in league play.

Mike Walker: 21 of his 28 FGs this season are 3-pointers. He is 21-50 on 3FG (.420) for the season. His 3FG percentage would rank 8th in a season at SMU. Earlier this season, he hit 8 straight 3-pointers in a two game stretch in Dec. He was 4-4 vs. Texas State (Dec. 7) and hit his first 4 from long range (4-6) at Occidental (Dec. 19).

TEAM NOTES:
DEFENSE: SMU has held its C-USA opponents to an average of 12.2 points below their scoring average entering the game. Ten of 15 league opponents have been held at least 11 points off their average. The opponent has reached its scoring average three times; at Rice (W, 73-65), at Memphis (L, 76-63) and at home against Houston (W, 94-83). Rice and Memphis were by less than a point. The largest dropoff was 32.8 at UTEP in the 49-45 loss on Jan. 6. (UTEP avg. was 81.8). SMU is second in C-USA in league play at 60.2. That is the best for SMU since holding opponents to 52.3 per Southwest Conference game in 1951-52. SMU did hold league foes to 60.9 per outing in 1958-59.

NEW C-USA HIGHS: The Mustangs have won seven games in C-USA, the most since joining the league in 2005-06. The three road wins in C-USA are also a best for the Mustangs. The 3-game win streak in C-USA (1/20 at Rice, 1/27 UCF, 1/30 Memphis) was also the longest in C-USA. SMU has assured its highest finish in the C-USA standings.

BIG WINS & CLOSE LOSSES: The Mustangs league wins are by an average of 12.0 points while the losses are by 6.0 points each (four by 4 points or less).

HAPPY NEW YEAR: The Mustangs went 5-4 in January for the first winning January since going 6-3 in 2002-03. Then followed with a 4-4 February.

BETTER THAN 50/50: The Mustangs shot 50% or better in four straight games (1/16 UAB to 1/27 UCF) and eight times this season. SMU is 7-2 when shooting 50% or better this season.

OUTSHOOTING: The Mustangs are 14-4 when shooting better than the opponent. FG PCT UP: SMU is shooting 45.8% from the field (4th C-USA), the highest since 1988-89 (48.3%). The highest since then was 45.3% in 2004-05.

TURNOVERS: SMU is averaging 13.6 turnovers per game, the lowest since 2001-02 (13.7). That is down from 14.9 last season. SMU is averaging 13.0 turnovers in C-USA, down from 14.8 last season. SMU only had 5 turnovers against Tulsa on Jan. 13; the fewest by SMU in a C-USA game.

SCHEDULE: SMU went 7-7 in non-conference play, but had losses to five teams in the top-100 of the NCAA RPI (through Feb. 28): Texas A&M (14), UNLV (43), South Florida (67), Northeastern (72), and College of Charleston (93). In C-USA, SMU has a win over Memphis (64) while four SMU losses are to top-100 teams; UAB (35), UTEP (50), Memphis (64), and Tulsa (71).

20/20: SMU has had two 20-point scorers in four games this season. Derek Williams 25, Papa Dia 23 vs. Memphis 1/30 (W, 70-60); Derek Williams 27, Robert Nyakundi 20 vs. Houston Baptist 1/23 (W, 82-68); Derek Williams 22, Papa Dia 21 at Rice 1/20 (W, 73-65); Mouhammad Faye 21, Paul McCoy 20 vs. Texas A&M (L, 80-68). The HBU and UCF games marked the first time SMU had multiple 20-point scorers in consecutive games since 2005 (Bryan Hopkins 32 and Eric Castro 28 at Tulsa (W, 95-83 ot) in Jan. 1; Castro 22 and Patrick Simpson 20 against Fresno St. (W 74-63) on Jan. 6). SMU has had five different 20-point scorers this season (Papa Dia, Mouhammad Faye, Paul McCoy, Robert Nyakundi, Derek Williams) and is one of only three teams in C-USA (Houston, UTEP) to do so.

HALF CENTURY: SMU has held three conference opponents to less than 50 points for the first time since the 1957-58 season. SMU fell 49-45 at UTEP on Jan. 6, won 65-43 vs. UCF on Jan. 27 and won 66-48 at Tulane on Feb. 6. The 49-45 loss at UTEP was the first time SMU held a league opponent under 50 on the road since a 65-42 win at UTEP on March 1, 2003. SMU then won 78-50 against North Carolina Central on Jan. 9, marking the first time SMU held consecutive opponents to 50 points or less since 1992; Feb. 8 vs. Texas Tech (W, 51-47) and Feb. 11 vs. Texas A&M (W, 44-38).

LEAD THEM ALL: Against Florida Gulf Coast, Paul McCoy co-led SMU in points (18), rebounds (8), assists (3), steals (2). It was the second time he had led or co-led in all four categories; also doing so against East Carolina on Jan. 24, 2009. That was the first time for a Mustang since Bryan Hopkins against Marshall on Feb. 18, 2006.

FG 65%: SMU shot a season-best 65.3% for the game (32-49) against North Carolina Central on Jan. 9. It marked the first time the team shot 65% or better since Dec. 19, 2005, when SMU shot a school-record 69.4% (34-49) against Savannah State (W, 89-46).

STREAKS:
10+points: Derek Williams 6 (24, 20, 11, 13, 18, 15), Mouhammad Faye 2 (18, 13), Robert Nyakundi 2 (18, 13)
8+ rebounds: Mouhammad Faye 2 (10, 8)
Dbl-Dbl:
5+ assists:
3+ steals: Robert Nyakundi (3)
2+ blocks:

MILESTONES:
SMU Career Rebounds: Papa Dia is 24th 558 (23rd Mike Wilson 562, 22nd John Colborne 574, 21st Bamba Fall 576, 20th Bill Voight 580)
SMU Career 3FGM: Robert Nyakundi is 15th 84, Mike Walker is 14th 87 (13th Todd Alexander 92, 12th Chad Elsey 95)
SMU Career Assists: Derek Williams is 23rd 211 (22nd Justin Isham 212, 21st Quinton Ross 222)

DEFENSE: In C-USA games, SMU is holding foes well below their averages.

	Avg *	Scored	Diff	Result
at UTEP	81.8	49	-32.8	L, 49-45
Tulsa	78.4	63	-15.4	L, 63-56
UAB	70.4	63	-7.4	L, 63-62
at Rice	64.6	65	0.4	W, 73-65
UCF	68.2	43	-25.2	W, 65-43
Memphis	76.2	60	-16.2	W, 70-60
at Southern Miss	67.2	56	-11.2	L, 56-53
at Tulane	63.7	48	-15.7	W, 66-48
UTEP	76.9	62	-14.9	L, 62-51
at Houston	79.7	66	-13.7	L, 66-60
Rice	64.7	57	-7.7	W, 67-57
at Memphis	75.9	76	0.1	L, 76-63
at East Carolina	67.0	54	-13.0	W, 59-54
Houston	78.6	83	4.4	W, 94-83
at Tulsa	72.4	58	-14.4	L, 58-55
Marshall	80.6
AVG ^	72.4	60.2	-12.2

* Average entering that game, ^ only includes games completed

BIG PICTURE (NOTES ENTERING THE 2009-10 SEASON)
1 - Last season, a first-year player led the team in scoring in 27 of 30 games, which was the highest percentage in the nation. Paul McCoy led 12 times as a freshman, Derek Williams led in scoring 10 times as a junior, Mouhammad Faye three times as a junior, and Robert Nyakundi led twice as a redshirt freshman.
2 - Last season Paul McCoy led the team in scoring 12 times, tying the SMU record for a freshman. He averaged 13.4 points per game en route to becoming the first freshman to ever lead SMU in scoring. McCoy also earned two C-USA Rookie of the Week honors. McCoy was selected preseason All-Conference USA By Blue Ribbon Yearbook for the 2009-10 season.
3 - The Mustangs' roster was all recruited by head coach Matt Doherty, which includes a Conference USA All-Freshman Team honoree each of the last two seasons; Paul McCoy (2008-09) and Papa Dia (2007-08). McCoy anchored a class rated as high as No. 33 nationally and Dia headlined a class rated as high as No. 24.
4 - The Mustangs now feature a more experienced lineup with two seniors, five juniors, five sophomores and two freshmen. The squad lost just one starter in Bamba Fall, a Conference USA All-Defensive Team selection. Overall, the squad returns six of its top seven scorers and 83.1 percent of last season's scoring, 67.9 percent of its rebounding, 90.1 percent of its assists, and 89.4 percent of its steals. 5 - The Mustangs improved in 13 of 19 statistical categories ranked by Conference USA from 2007-08 to 2008-09, including scoring, scoring defense, overall and 3-point field goal percentage, overall and 3-point field goal percentage defense, and rebounding margin.
6 - Senior Mouhammad Faye played for Senegal's National Team in the 2009 African Games in Libya. The Senegalese went 5-4 to finish seventh in the championship after winning Group C in the opening stage and winning Group F in the qualifying round. Faye was seventh in the tournament at 17.3 points per game while averaging 3.8 rebounds and shooting 46.7 percent. Faye also played for the Senegalese National Team in 2007 with Bamba Fall (2009 graduate). The 2007 squad finished ninth in the championships in Angola.
7 - For the second season, the NBA's Dallas Mavericks held training camp at SMU's Crum Basketball Center.
8 - Captains: Mouhammad Faye, Derek Williams and Paul McCoy were named team captains prior to the start of practice.

HEAD COACH Matt Doherty...is in his ninth season as a head coach and his fourth season at SMU. This is his 19th season in collegiate coaching with eight NCAA Tournaments, seven conference titles, a Final Four appearance and the 2001 AP National Coach of the Year award. He also has 22 players that have gone to the NBA. He has a 137-144 record including a 47-73 mark on the Hilltop.