MBB: No. 8 SMU Faces No. 9 UCF In C-USA Championship Opener Wednesday At 8:30 p.m. - SMUMUSTANGS.COM - The Official Athletic Site of SMU Mustangs

MBB: No. 8 SMU Faces No. 9 UCF In C-USA Championship Opener Wednesday At 8:30 p.m.
Mustangs Begin Tournament Following Best C-USA Finish

	SMU enters the C-USA Championship following its best C-USA finish

March 8, 2010

GMC Sierra C-USA Basketball Championship - First Round
No. 8 SMU Mustangs (14-16, 7-9)
vs.
No. 9 UCF Knights (14-16, 6-10)

Wed. March 10 - 8:30 p.m.
Bank of Oklahoma Center (17,839)
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Radio: KAAM 770 AM (Rich Phillips, Herman Hudson)
Internet: SMUMustangs.com

Complete Release in PDF Format

The No. 8 seed SMU Mustangs face the No. 9 seed UCF Knights in the first round of the GMC Sierra Conference USA Championship at the Bank of Oklahoma Center in Tulsa on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. The Mustangs enter the tournament with their most wins (7), best finish (tied for 7th) and best seed (No. 8) since joining Conference USA for the 2005-06 season. The teams met once this season, with SMU winning 65-43 in Dallas on Jan. 27. The winner will face the No. 1 seed and regular-season champion UTEP Miners in the quarterfinal round on Thursday at 9 p.m. The quarterfinal game is televised on CBS College Sports.

SMU finished 7-9 in Conference USA. The Mustangs started 0-3 in league play, then went 7-4 in the next 11 games before losing the final two contests.

SMU finished second in C-USA in scoring defense in league play, allowing just 61.0 points per game. In C-USA games, the Mustangs held opponents 12.0 points off their scoring average. Thirteen of the league opponents were held below their average with ten of them at least 11 points under their average. Three C-USA opponents did not reached 50 points. That marked the first time SMU has held three league opponents below 50 points since the 1957-58 season. The scoring defense in league play was the best for SMU since holding opponents to 60.9 per Southwest Conference game in 1958-59.

ALL-CONFERENCE USA: Papa Dia and Derek Williams were selected to the 2010 All-Conference USA Third Team. It is the first time SMU has had multiple All-Conference selections since the 2001-02 season (Damon Hancock 1st team, Quinton Ross 2nd team in WAC).

Papa Dia: All-Conference USA Third Team - averaging 12.5 points (15th C-USA), 8.7 rebounds (5th C-USA), 1.3 blks (6th C-USA), 1.3 asts, and 0.8 stls while hitting 54.1% (4th C-USA) and 80.5% FTs (5th C-USA). He has 8 or more rebounds 17 times this season. His 3.1 offensive rebounds per game are 3rd in C-USA. In C-USA games, he is at 13.9 points (13th C-USA), 9.1 rebounds (4th C-USA), and 1.4 blocks (4th C-USA). DOUBLE-DOUBLES: He has ten double-doubles on the season (6 in C-USA games), 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 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 571 career rebounds, ranking 23rd 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. Totaled 18 points and 13 rebounds in the regular-season finale against Marshall.

Derek Williams: All-Conference USA Third Team - leads the team in scoring at 16.6 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 5 games this year. He is averaging 3.6 assists (10th C-USA) and has a 1.5 assist/turnover ratio (9th C-USA) in 36.3 minutes per game (3rd C-USA). In league play, he is averaging 16.6 points (4th C-USA), 4.0 assists (9th C-USA) and has a 1.6 assist/turnover ratio (9th C-USA) while shooting 41.9% FG (15th C-USA) and 34.7% 3FG. He led C-USA at 39.2 minutes per league game and played 40 minutes in ten C-USA games. He missed just 13 minutes of game time in league play. 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.) 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 879 points at SMU and is just the 18th Mustang to have at least 800 points in any 2-year span. He has 499 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. 200 ASSISTS: He is 22nd at SMU with 214 assists and became the 23rd Mustang to the milestone when he recorded eight assists in the win over Houston on Feb. 27.

LAST GAME (Mar. 6 vs. Marshall, L, 73-57): DALLAS (AP)--Tyler Wilkerson and Hassan Whiteside posted double-doubles to lead Marshall to a 73-57 win against SMU on Saturday. Wilkerson had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Whiteside 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Thundering Herd (23-8, 11-5 Conference USA), who, with Tulsa's loss to Memphis on Saturday, clinched the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament and received a bye to the quarterfinals on Thursday. Marshall will play the winner of Wednesday's Rice-Tulsa contest. Papa Dia had 18 points and 13 rebounds for SMU (14-16, 7-9), who earned the No. 8 seed in the tournament and will play ninth-seeded UCF on Wednesday. Mouhammad Faye, with 10 points, was the only other Mustang to score in double figures. Dago Pena had 10 points for Marshall.

THE SERIES VS. UCF (3-2): The Mustangs and Knights are meeting for the sixth time, all since becoming members of Conference USA . SMU leads the series 3-2 with the home team winning each game. This is the first postseason and neutral site meeting. SMU won the home games, 65-43 on Jan. 27, 2010, 69-67 in overtime in 2008 and 77-55 at Moody Coliseum in the inaugural meeting in 2006. SMU fell 70-45 at UCF in 2009 and 64-56 in Orlando in 2007.

THIS SEASON VS. UCF (Jan. 27 UCF, W, 65-43): DALLAS (AP) - Robert Nyakundi scored 18 points and SMU defeated UCF 65-43 in Conference USA play. Nyakundi scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half. Derek Williams added a double-double, with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists. Keith Clanton was the only double-digit scorer for the Knights (10-10, 2-4) with 11. The Mustangs (9-10, 2-3) jumped out to a 26-12 lead over the first 15:43 of the game and closed the half out on a 15-4 run to take a 41-16 lead into the half. SMU never let the Knights back in the game after halftime as they held at least a 22 point lead the entire second half.

THE SERIES VS. UTEP (14-22): SMU and UTEP would be meeting for the 37th time with UTEP holding an 22-14 advantage. UTEP has won 14 of the last 15 meetings with the lone exception being SMU's 99-96 double overtime win in Dallas on March 1, 2008. Jon Killen led SMU with a career-high 33 points, including 29 after halftime en route to the win. SMU is 1-9 against the Miners in league games since the two joined Conference USA prior to the 2005-06 season. The teams have been in the same league since joining becoming Western Athletic Conference foes for the 1996-97 season. SMU held a 9-5 series edge in WAC games. The teams have met three times in postseason tournaments with UTEP holding a 2-1 advantage. SMU won 65-64 in the 1999 WAC Tournament opening round, UTEP then won 74-70 in the 2001 WAC quarterfinal and UTEP also won 71-49 in the first round of the 2008 C-USA Championship.

THIS SEASON VS. UTEP (Jan. 6 at UTEP, L, 49-45): EL PASO, Texas (AP) - Derrick Caracter had 18 points, including four straight in the closing minutes, as UTEP held off SMU 49-45 Wednesday in the Conference USA opener for both schools. After SMU (5-8, 0-1 Conference USA) tied the game at 41 on a basket by Derek Williams, Caracter hit two free throws and then scored on a dunk to put UTEP (10-3, 1-0) on top for good. Randy Culpepper added 14 points for the Miners, including a pair of free throws with 49 seconds left and a layup with 6 seconds remaining after the Mustangs had pulled within 47-45 on a 3-pointer by Williams. SMU held UTEP to just 5-of-15 from the field in the second half, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range. The Miners were 10-of-11 at the free throw line in the second stanza. Williams had 14 points to lead SMU. Frank Otis set career-highs with nine points and 11 rebounds while starting in place of Mouhammad Faye, who missed the game with a shoulder injury. Otis led the Mustangs in winning the rebound battle 28-25. Papa Dia added eight points and six rebounds. Neither team shot well. UTEP made only 3 of 18 3-pointers and shot 42.9 percent (18 for 42) from the field. SMU was 3 for 15 from long range, 4 for 8 from the free-throw line and hit just 42.2 percent from the field (19 for 45). (Feb. 10 UTEP, L, 62-51): DALLAS (AP) - Randy Culpepper scored 18 points and Derrick Caracter had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead UTEP to a 62-51 victory over SMU Wednesday night. Jeremy Williams added 11 points for the Miners (18-5, 9-1 Conference USA). Mouhammad Faye had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Mustangs (11-12, 4-5). Papa Dia had 11 points and eight rebounds for SMU. Faye's basket just before halftime gave the Mustangs a 24-22 lead at the break--the fewest points the Miners had scored in the first half in a game this season. But UTEP quickly tied it on Williams' jumper and went ahead to stay on Julyan Stone's 3-pointer. UTEP shot 61 percent in the second half after making only 30 percent of its shots in the first half. The Miners finished the game at 44 percent while SMU ended at 31 percent.

SMU VS. RANKED TEAMS: The Mustangs would be looking for their first win over a ranked opponent since a 60-59 triumph at No. 17 Purdue in the title game of the Boilermaker Invitational on Dec. 21, 2003. Since then, SMU has played ten games against ranked foes, including seven matchups against Memphis. The Ponies have fallen just three points short in two of those nine games, a 50-47 home-loss to No. 12 Oklahoma on Jan. 3, 2006, and a 64-61 thriller at Moody Coliseum against No. 6 Memphis on March 3, 2007. The highest ranked team SMU has defeated was No. 2 Louisville, 83-81 in the 1967 NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal in Lawrence, Kan.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES:
RODNEY CLINSCALES: Is averaging 4.4 points while shooting 38.1 percent from 3-point range (24-63).

Mouhammad Faye: averaging career-bests of 10.8 points (3rd on team, 22nd C-USA) and 5.3 rebounds (2nd on team, 18th C-USA). In the last eight games, he is averaging 13.0 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 50.7 percent (36-71) and 48.6 percent from 3-point range (17-36). He has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight 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 63-for-106 on FGs (.594) for the season. He has scored 10 or more points five times this season. SMU is 7-2 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 averaged 8.9 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 37.2 percent (32-83) 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 40.2 (86-214). His 41.1% this season would rank 10th 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 3FGs in a two game stretch in Dec. He was 4-4 vs. Texas St. (Dec. 7) and 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 11.9 points below their scoring average entering the game. Ten of the league opponents were held at least 11 points off their average. A C-USA opponent 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 finished second in C-USA in league play at 61.0. That is the best for SMU since holding opponents to 60.9 per outing in 1958-59.

NEW C-USA HIGHS: The Mustangs 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 finished tied for seventh and as the No. 8 seed for the C-USA Championship, which are also team bests since joining C-USA. BIG WINS & CLOSE LOSSES: The Mustangs league wins are by an average of 12.0 points while the losses are by 7.1 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: Mouhammad Faye 3 (18, 13, 10), Papa Dia (18)
8+ rebounds: Papa Dia (13)
Dbl-Dbl: Papa Dia (18 pts, 13 rebs)
5+ assists:
3+ steals: Justin Haynes (4)
2+ blocks:

MILESTONES:
SMU Career Rebounds: Papa Dia is 23rd 571 (22nd John Colborne 574, 21st Bamba Fall 576, 20th Bill Voight 580, 19th Greg Kinzer 609)
SMU Career Blocks: Papa Dia is T-13th 65 (T-13th Glenn Puddy 65, T-11th Thines Robinson II, T-11th Jeryl Sasser 67, 10th Bobby Dimson 69, 9th Donatas Rackauskas 70, 8th Brad Branson 78)
SMU Career 3FGM: Robert Nyakundi is 15th 86, Mike Walker is 14th 87 (13th Todd Alexander 92, 12th Chad Elsey 95)
SMU Career Assists: Derek Williams is 22nd 214 (21st Quinton Ross 222, 20th Carlton McKinney 236)

DEFENSE: In C-USA games, SMU held 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	73	-7.6	L, 73-57
AVG ^	72.9	61.0	-11.9

* 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 137-145 record including a 47-74 mark on the Hilltop.