As SMU wraps up its West Coast journey, they're aiming for a strong finish against Stanford in a Saturday afternoon clash within the Atlantic Coast Conference. This marks their first face-off of the season, with last year's series split evenly as both teams defended their home courts. Stanford's previous victory saw them sprint to a 45-point first half, edging out SMU 73-68, while SMU had dominated the earlier encounter 85-61.
The Mustangs, standing at 19-9 overall and 8-7 in the ACC, were on a roll with four wins out of five before hitting a bump in the road with a 73-69 loss to Cal. Despite leading 67-64 with less than two minutes to play, Justin Pippen and the Golden Bears managed a comeback.
Corey Washington was a standout for SMU, dropping 15 points and pulling down nine boards, while shooting 50% from beyond the arc. Boopie Miller also contributed 15 points and led the team with four assists.
However, SMU's Achilles' heel was their free-throw shooting, hitting only 42.3% from the line.
"We beat ourselves tonight, missed 15 free throws," lamented SMU's head coach, Andy Enfield.
On the flip side, Stanford, with a 17-11 record and 6-9 in conference play, snapped a two-game losing streak with a home victory over Pitt, 75-67. Previously, they had stumbled on the road against Wake Forest and Cal.
In their win, Stanford was flawless from the free-throw line, converting all 10 attempts, and kept turnovers to a minimum with just nine. Ebuka Okorie was the catalyst, pouring in 34 points, snagging six rebounds, and dishing out six assists.
He was efficient from deep, going 3-for-6, and perfect from the line at 9-for-9. Benny Gealer chipped in 12 points, while AJ Rohosy led the team with eight rebounds.
"That was a great win for our program," Stanford's head coach Kyle Smith remarked. "It shows the toughness of this league.
Even when Pitt went up by seven in the second half, we couldn't be put away. Ebuka really took charge and got us over the line.
It's great to have a player like that. A big win for us."
As both teams gear up for this pivotal matchup, fans can expect a hard-fought contest that could have significant implications for their conference standings.