After being snubbed from the NCAA Tournament last season, Larry Brown's SMU Mustangs were looking to start off the season with a bang against the #13 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, they fell to 1-1 on the season after being overpowered by the Zags.
The game started off reasonably close, with just a 10 point differential at halftime, 37-27 in favor of Gonzaga. Ben Moore started off hot for SMU, going 4-of-5 shooting in the first half for eight points. He was, however, the only effective starter for Larry Brown's squad in the first half, as the other four combined for just nine points on 3-of-13 shooting with six turnovers. As a whole, SMU only made 11-of-28 shots in the first half, including just one make out of six three-point attempts.
On the Gonzaga side of things, Kevin Pangos came out of the gate firing, hitting four of seven shots in the first half, including three of five from behind the three-point line. His 11 point first half performance led all players.
After halftime, Gonzaga was able to pull away from SMU. Kevin Pangos set the tone early in the second half for the Bulldogs, nailing a wide open three from well behind the arc at about the 18:00 mark, then making a scrappy play to cause a foul by SMU on the ensuing possession for the Mustangs. From that point forward, Gonzaga would start to pull away.
The Zags played efficiently and cleanly in the second half, committing just two turnovers in the half while extending their lead. In contrast, SMU turned the ball over five times in the second half and shot just 8-of-33.
Gonzaga led by over 20 at one point late in the game, as chants of "overrated" rained down on the Mustangs from the fans inside of the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane. With under two minutes to go in the game, Damontis Sabonis threw down a thunderous one-handed jam to put an exclamation point on the game. Gonzaga ended up beating SMU by a final score 72-56.
For SMU, three players finished in double digits, led by Ben Moore with 11 (Nic Moore and Justin Martin each had 10). Ben Moore and Yanick Moreira each had eight rebounds to lead the team, and Nic Moore had a team-high five assists.
Gonzaga's leading scorer and assister was Kevin Pangos, who had 17 and seven, respectively. Domantas Sabonis led the Zags with nine rebounds off the bench. The Mustangs shot 31.1% from the floor for the game, including 6/16 from 3-point range. Gonzaga had a shooting percentage of 45 on the night, 41.7% from behind the arc.
#22 SMU can't wallow in this loss for very long, as their next game will be at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, where they will take on the 2-0 Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday night. #13 Gonzaga will be at home for a game back-to-back nights for the only time this season when they take on the St. Joseph's Hawks on Wednesday.