Halfway through the ACC season, SMU & Stanford, who were picked to finish 13th & 17, respectively, in the preseason poll are tied for 4th place with Wake Forest. SMU's record is 16-5, 7-3 in the ACC, 9-3 at home (losses to Mississippi State, Duke, & Louisville). The Mustangs are favored by 5.5, O/U is 148.5, implied score is 77-71.5. They don't have any particular bad losses - worst was probably at Butler. And they don't have any particularly good wins - best was probably vs. LSU. Best ACC win was probably Weds. vs. Cal.
Their record is, however, backed up by some impressive stats: top ACC scoring offense (82.8ppg); 2nd in scoring margin (+11.0ppg); 1st in FG% (47.8); 3rd in opponent FG% (40.5); 3rd in 3pt FG% (37.9); 1st in rebounding (40.4); 2nd in rebounding margin (+7.2); 5th in blocks (4.0); 2nd in assists (16.19); 2nd in steals (7.71); and 1st in points off the bench (28.3). The Mustangs don't have any scorers among the top 20 of the ACC, but they have 5 averaging in double figures.
Coach Andy Enfield is in his first year at SMU after 11 pretty successful seasons at USC. He quickly built a veteran team with a lot of help through the portal. Of their top 10 players this season, one is a freshman and 6 are transfers in their first year at SMU. The other 3 are also transfers, but in their 2nd or 3rd year at SMU.
Starters for SMU vs. Cal were:
#2 Boopie Miller (6'0/175 Jr G) - Played 1 year at Central Michigan and made the MAC All-freshman team. Started at Wake Forest last year and was top 15 in the ACC in scoring, assists, steals, FT%, & FG%. Currently averaging 13.8ppg, 5.7 assists (5th in the ACC), 1.6 steals (7th), & 83.1 FT% (11th);
#3 Chuck Harris (6'4/190 Sr G) - Played 3 years at Butler, mostly in a starting role, and made the Big East All-freshman team. Full-time starter at SMU last season. Currently averaging 12.2 ppg, and 2.1 3s (8th, on 44/94 shooting);
#33 Matt Cross (6'7/230 RSr F) - Played 1 year at Miami, 1 at Louisville, 2 at UMass where he was Atlantic 10 All-League 1st team last season. Currently averaging 11.2ppg & 8.4rpg (6th);
#0 BJ Edwards (6'3/185 Jr G) - Played 1 year at Tennessee. Starter at SMU last season. Currently averaging 10.8ppg, 4.1rpg, 3.2 assists (13th), and 2.3 steals (2nd);
#21 Yohan Traore (6'11/235 Jr F) - Played 1 year at Auburn, started last season for UCSB and made All-Big West HM. Currently averaging 7.3ppg & 4.0rpg.
Samet Yigitoglu (7'2/265 F C) has started in all 18 games he has played in, but missed Wednesday's game vs. Cal. He went for 20 & 7 in the previous game at NC State, but aggravated a previous injury. Didn't sound serious, and I think there's a good chance he will be back in the line-up today. He's not a typical freshman. He's from Turkey and played 3 seasons in the 1st division of the Turkish league. He'll turn 21 before the end of the season. He averages 10.3ppg & 6.6rpg (15th).
Other players in SMU's rotation are: #8 Kario Oquendo (6'4/220 RSr G) - Played 1 year at Florida Southwestern, 2 at Georgia (led them in scoring as a sophomore), & 1 at Oregon. Averaging 9.6ppg; #22 Keon Ambrose-Hylton (6'9/220 Sr F) - played 1 year at Alabama; #20 Jerrell Colbert (6'10/235 Jr F) - Spent 1 year at LSU & 1 at Kansas State. Averages 1 block per game in only 9 minutes. Might see more playing time if Yigitoglu is still out.
I haven't heard any update regarding Donavin Young, but it would be great to have him available. This is obviously a big game for what it means in the ACC standings. And it likely the best opportunity to get another Quad 1 win (to go along with previous Quad 1 wins @ Santa Clara & @ UNC). Solid contributions from at least 8 players will probably be needed, and the occasional dry spell that has plagued the team in most of the losses (and even in some wins, like vs Syracuse) must be eliminated. SMU is known for reeling of big runs and can score lots of points in a hurry. This is a winnable game, but if Stanford is to pull it off, I think it will go down to the wire. A win would be the 5th in a row and set them up well for a couple more games back at Maples next week - vs. Wake Forest & NC State.
Here is some Bracketology from something called DRatings, which I had never heard of until this morning: https://www.dratings.com/predictor/bracketology/
It includes projected brackets for both the NCAA & NIT tournaments. It has 5 ACC teams in the NCAA tourney - Duke, Louisville, Clemson, Pitt, & UNC. SMU & Wake Forest are projected to be 2 of the 4 #1 seeds in the NIT. Stanford is rated #20 in the NIT field, so not among the top 16 that get home games. Florida State is projected as the #32 (last in) NIT qualifier.
Their record is, however, backed up by some impressive stats: top ACC scoring offense (82.8ppg); 2nd in scoring margin (+11.0ppg); 1st in FG% (47.8); 3rd in opponent FG% (40.5); 3rd in 3pt FG% (37.9); 1st in rebounding (40.4); 2nd in rebounding margin (+7.2); 5th in blocks (4.0); 2nd in assists (16.19); 2nd in steals (7.71); and 1st in points off the bench (28.3). The Mustangs don't have any scorers among the top 20 of the ACC, but they have 5 averaging in double figures.
Coach Andy Enfield is in his first year at SMU after 11 pretty successful seasons at USC. He quickly built a veteran team with a lot of help through the portal. Of their top 10 players this season, one is a freshman and 6 are transfers in their first year at SMU. The other 3 are also transfers, but in their 2nd or 3rd year at SMU.
Starters for SMU vs. Cal were:
#2 Boopie Miller (6'0/175 Jr G) - Played 1 year at Central Michigan and made the MAC All-freshman team. Started at Wake Forest last year and was top 15 in the ACC in scoring, assists, steals, FT%, & FG%. Currently averaging 13.8ppg, 5.7 assists (5th in the ACC), 1.6 steals (7th), & 83.1 FT% (11th);
#3 Chuck Harris (6'4/190 Sr G) - Played 3 years at Butler, mostly in a starting role, and made the Big East All-freshman team. Full-time starter at SMU last season. Currently averaging 12.2 ppg, and 2.1 3s (8th, on 44/94 shooting);
#33 Matt Cross (6'7/230 RSr F) - Played 1 year at Miami, 1 at Louisville, 2 at UMass where he was Atlantic 10 All-League 1st team last season. Currently averaging 11.2ppg & 8.4rpg (6th);
#0 BJ Edwards (6'3/185 Jr G) - Played 1 year at Tennessee. Starter at SMU last season. Currently averaging 10.8ppg, 4.1rpg, 3.2 assists (13th), and 2.3 steals (2nd);
#21 Yohan Traore (6'11/235 Jr F) - Played 1 year at Auburn, started last season for UCSB and made All-Big West HM. Currently averaging 7.3ppg & 4.0rpg.
Samet Yigitoglu (7'2/265 F C) has started in all 18 games he has played in, but missed Wednesday's game vs. Cal. He went for 20 & 7 in the previous game at NC State, but aggravated a previous injury. Didn't sound serious, and I think there's a good chance he will be back in the line-up today. He's not a typical freshman. He's from Turkey and played 3 seasons in the 1st division of the Turkish league. He'll turn 21 before the end of the season. He averages 10.3ppg & 6.6rpg (15th).
Other players in SMU's rotation are: #8 Kario Oquendo (6'4/220 RSr G) - Played 1 year at Florida Southwestern, 2 at Georgia (led them in scoring as a sophomore), & 1 at Oregon. Averaging 9.6ppg; #22 Keon Ambrose-Hylton (6'9/220 Sr F) - played 1 year at Alabama; #20 Jerrell Colbert (6'10/235 Jr F) - Spent 1 year at LSU & 1 at Kansas State. Averages 1 block per game in only 9 minutes. Might see more playing time if Yigitoglu is still out.
I haven't heard any update regarding Donavin Young, but it would be great to have him available. This is obviously a big game for what it means in the ACC standings. And it likely the best opportunity to get another Quad 1 win (to go along with previous Quad 1 wins @ Santa Clara & @ UNC). Solid contributions from at least 8 players will probably be needed, and the occasional dry spell that has plagued the team in most of the losses (and even in some wins, like vs Syracuse) must be eliminated. SMU is known for reeling of big runs and can score lots of points in a hurry. This is a winnable game, but if Stanford is to pull it off, I think it will go down to the wire. A win would be the 5th in a row and set them up well for a couple more games back at Maples next week - vs. Wake Forest & NC State.
Here is some Bracketology from something called DRatings, which I had never heard of until this morning: https://www.dratings.com/predictor/bracketology/
It includes projected brackets for both the NCAA & NIT tournaments. It has 5 ACC teams in the NCAA tourney - Duke, Louisville, Clemson, Pitt, & UNC. SMU & Wake Forest are projected to be 2 of the 4 #1 seeds in the NIT. Stanford is rated #20 in the NIT field, so not among the top 16 that get home games. Florida State is projected as the #32 (last in) NIT qualifier.
