SMU and Washington State will meet for the championship of the Acrisure Holiday Invitational on Wednesday in Palm Springs, Calif., having arrived there in different fashions.
SMU (5-2) enters the matchup on the heels of Boopie Miller’s game-winning floater with 2.1 seconds left in the 79-77 win over Cal Baptist on Tuesday. The dramatic conclusion came on the heels of a second-half collapse from the Mustangs, who led 45-32 at halftime.
“Cal Baptist played a terrific second half,” SMU head coach Andy Enfield said on the SMU radio broadcast. “They made 3 after 3. Some of our guys have to understand how to guard quicker players. We’re a big team, [and] sometimes they can get dribble penetration.”
Washington State (6-1) is fresh off an 84-73 defeat of Fresno State, a game that saw the Cougars shoot 53.1 percent. Once Washington State extended its lead to double digits midway through the second half, the Cougars never looked back, leading by as many as 18 points in the final eight minutes.
The offensive efficiency has been a trend over the past several games for the Cougars, who are shooting 52.9 percent over their past three.
“I thought the biggest thing was our guys playing unselfishly,” Washington State coach David Riley said in his postgame radio interview. “And it wasn’t like we were playing selfishly in the first half, because I thought we got good shots — but they were kinda like funky, out-of-rhythm, early good looks that they were kinda baiting us into. The sign of a really good team is that they can pass up those good ones and get great ones.”
SMU enters Wednesday’s matchup having shot 50 percent or better from the field for the fifth time this season. SMU’s 8-of-20 mark from 3-point range against Cal Baptist also marked the Mustangs’ fourth performance this season with a 3-point shooting percentage of 40 percent or better. Miller’s 17.1 points per game lead the scoring attack, complemented by Chuck Harris’ 12.4 and 10.7 from B.J. Edwards.
The Cougars are without guard Cedric Coward as he is dealing with a reported shoulder injury. Coward is averaging 17.7 points per game.
In his absence, Nate Calmese assumed an even more prominent role in Tuesday’s win, scoring 22 points, and is Washington State’s top scorer at 17.9 points per game.
–Field Level Media
