Tulsa Squeaks Past SMU in Conference Opener
There was a definite buzz in the air for Sunday night’s Conference USA men’s basketball opener between SMU and Tulsa at Moody Coliseum. First-year Mustangs head coach Larry Brown was squaring off with one of his former Kansas players, Danny Manning, who is also in his first year as head coach of the Golden Hurricane.
After a dreadful first half in which SMU managed to put up just 17 points, the Mustangs took a late four-point lead, only to have Tulsa’s Pat Swilling Jr. bury a 3-pointer with 3.8 seconds to play to lift the Golden Hurricane to a 48-47 win. Swilling, the son of the former NFL star, had a game-high 18 points — all of which came from 3-pointers.
The Ponies (10-6, 0-1) will be back at it Wednesday when they travel to Houston for a 7 p.m. contest.
Brown and Manning won an NCAA championship with the Jayhawks in 1988. Manning was the Final Four’s most outstanding player that season. He is also a former Dallas Maverick.
Proud of the Ponies but even more proud of the UP Elementary (and our token Hyer player) 4th grade basketball players that scrimmaged during SMU v. Tulsa halftime. It was competitive “game” and as usual, the coaching by Al Sorrels was spectacular!