SMU Basketball to face off with pesky Tulsa team in AAC Quarterfinals

SMU Basketball will face off with Tulsa on Friday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPNU in the American Athletic Conference quarterfinals. The Mustangs bring the AAC Player of the Year, Kendric Davis, into Dickies Arena.

Davis scored what was at the time a conference career-high 26 points against Tulsa in December before he topped that mark in the win over Memphis at Moody Coliseum. In the matchup in late February, Davis notched 17 points on a somewhat off night shooting the ball.

At least SMU Basketball saw Tulsa twice in the regular season. That helps for the planning aspect with coaches scouting their opponent and conveying the plan to the players.

“It’s a lot of just playing on your principles,” head coach Tim Jankovich said on Wednesday. “As coaches, trying to figure out, well, what’s the most important things that we can get across without getting everybody thinking about too many things? It’s not coming natural. So, it’s a little bit of a challenge. It’s very different in conference tournaments.”

Tulsa enters the game 11-19 overall and 4-11 in league play while the Mustangs mustered up a 20-win season en route to earning the No. 2 seed in the AAC Tournament, just behind Houston.

Tulsa facing SMU Basketball after efficient win

The 10th-seeded Hurricane earned its spot in the quarterfinals after beating No. 7 Wichita State 73-67. Sam Griffin led all scorers with 21 points. Darien Jackson recorded 20 points and just missed out on a double-double, pulling down nine rebounds. Jeriah Horne picked up his fourth double-double of the season with a 17-point, 10-rebound performance.

Tulsa won the rebounding battle 38-36, points off turnovers 18-8 and fastbreak points 15-2. The Hurricane had a huge lead at one point before a Shockers’ run. The Hurricane cleaned up its turnovers and rebounding to hold off Wichita State.

“I really believe it’s something we really want to pride ourselves on is making sure we take care of the ball and we rebound, but it’s hurt us all year because we haven’t been able to guard dribble penetration as well,” Tulsa head coach Frank Haith said Thursday after the win. “I think the other thing for us in terms of taking care of the ball, we’re playing without Anthony Pritchard he’s a true freshman but he was our point guard from Christmas on, and we lost Keyshawn Embery-Simpson earlier. We’re playing with Sam and Curtis in that position that really hadn’t played that position. So but those guys have matured and grown in the last couple games.”

SMU doesn’t have the size some teams do, but the Mustangs are tough on the glass. Tulsa sees it like SMU — an effort decision.

“The thing with rebounding is all about, you know, the ticker,” Haith said. “Your heart and desire and blocking out and first to the floor. We’re not a big team, but if we can’t get the ball, we try to keep it alive but our guards got to help us.”

Win could set up date with America’s Team

Memphis, which SMU Basketball swept in the regular season, is in the NCAA Tournament field, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. SMU sits as a First Four Out team, but has a chance to make a move into the field with a strong weekend.

It’s something the team is used to. Davis once again compared it to a Game 7 mentality, but there’s also some favoritism at play, he believes.

“Every game feels like Game 7, especially when you’re not in one of those Power Five schools,” Davis said on Wednesday. “You can lose a game, two, three in a row in a Power Five and then win one and you’re back on the bubble. I kind of feel like that’s what it is with Memphis. I feel like they’re America’s team right now. Everybody’s pushing for them. They want them bad in the tournament. That’s all that’s talked about. They win three in a row, they’re on the bubble immediately. We win three in a row, we’ve still got more work to do.

“We know we’re not appreciated, but we like that, we like to earn it.”

The winner of tomorrow’s game will move on to play the winner of the Memphis-UCF matchup in the semifinals of the AAC Championship. Tipoff for the semifinal showdown is 4 p.m. on Saturday and airs on ESPN2.