CONFERENCE STATISTICS
UCF and USF outlasted their foes, as SMU cruised to victory, winning by a comfortable 46 points on Wednesday night.
SMU 81, Northwestern State 35
DALLAS, TEXAS (SMUMustangs.com) – In each of the first two games of the season, it took the Mustangs into the second half to close the game out. On Wednesday night against Northwestern State, SMU (3-0) worked far more quickly, building a 28-point first half lead on its way to an 81-35 victory.
The Mustangs closed the first half on a 26-2 run to build a huge lead into halftime, stifling the Demons on the defensive end. Northwestern State managed only three field goals in the first half on 14 percent shooting. SMU went over 17 minutes without allowing the Demons a field goal.
"Our big deal going in was putting two halves together of really good, solid defense," head coach Tim Jankovich said. "We'd played two great halves in our first two games. In this one, we played tremendously defensively the entire game. That was our main focus."
The trio of Jarrey Foster, Ben Emelogu II and Shake Milton combined for 52 of the Mustangs' 81 points to lead the way in the blowout win. Foster led the way with 19 points, while Emelogu II and Milton accounted for 17 and 16, respectively. Emelogu II led the Mustangs in rebounds with a career-high nine as well. Freshman Ethan Chargois provided another solid outing for SMU, dropping in 10 points of his own and grabbing seven boards.
SMU held Northwestern State to just 24 percent shooting from the field for the game and 15 percent from behind the arc while forcing 21 turnovers. The 46-point win was the Mustangs' largest margin of victory since 2015.
SMU is now 28-0 at Moody Coliseum under Jankovich, tying the second-best home start by a head coach in NCAA history.
The Mustangs are back at home on Saturday at 7 p.m., hosting UAPB. It's the last home game before SMU heads to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis.
USF 75, Stetson 72
DELAND, Fla. (AP) -- Payton Banks and Stephan Jiggetts each hit four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points on Wednesday night, and Terrence Samuel had 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to help South Florida beat Stetson 75-72 for coach Brian Gregory's 250th career win.
Tulio Da Silva added 11 points and eight rebounds for USF (2-1). The Bulls shot 52 percent from the field, including 10 of 22 from 3-point range.
The Hatters, who trailed by as many as 14 points, tied it at 70-all on a 3-pointer by Luke Doyle with 3:55 to play. Jiggetts answered with a layup and, after a jumper by Stetson's Divine Myles, Da Silva made a basket with 2:22 to play. Neither team scored again until Da Silva hit 1 of 2 from the free-throw line with a second to go.
Miles led the Hatters with 20 points and six assists. Doyle added 17 points and five assists, and B.J. Glasford scored 12.
Glasford hit a 3-pointer for Stetson (2-1) to open the game but Samuel had nine points while USF scored 23 of the next 29 to make it 23-9 midway through the first half. The Bulls never again trailed.
UCF 68, Gardner-Webb 65
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A.J. Davis had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Chad Brown added 10 points, 10 boards and five blocks for his first career double-double, and Central Florida held off Gardner-Webb for a 68-65 win on Wednesday night.
Chance McSpadden hit a pair of free throws for UCF with 10 seconds left and Liam O'Reilly was off the mark on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The Knights led 63-52 with 3:42 to play before DJ Laster and David Efianayi made 3-pointers to bring Gardner-Webb within five points. O'Reilly reduced the deficit to 64-60, and his 3 with 34 seconds left made it 66-65.
Terrell Allen and Dayon Griffin each added 12 points for UCF (2-0). The Knights were just 28 of 40 from the free-throw line.
Laster led the Bulldogs (0-3) with 21 points and nine rebounds. Efianayi scored 18 points and O'Reilly had 13.
Radford 73, ECU 66
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Ed Polite Jr. scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds as Radford edged East Carolina 73-66 on Wednesday night.
Polite was 5 of 10 from the floor and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line for the Highlanders (2-1). Caleb Tanner and Carlik Jones had nine points apiece.
Travis Fields Jr. dropped a 3-pointer to cap a 15-8 start for the Highlanders and Polite made a dunk to stretch it to 21-10 with 8:46 to go in the first period. East Carolina cut it in the final 2:33 to 37-30 at the break.
In the second half, the Pirates (1-1) took a 55-53 lead on an Aaron Jackson 3 with 8:58 to play. Justin Cousin hit a 3-pointer with an assist from Donald Hicks to get the Highlanders back on top 62-60 with 3:32 remaining and they led the rest of the way.
B.J. Tyson had 16 points and five boards for the Pirates. Jabari Craig led with 11 rebounds.