National Basketball Association
Southern Methodist 77, Rutgers 65
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, February 14, 2014
Where: Louis Brown Athletic Center, Piscataway, New Jersey
Officials:
# Bryan Kersey, # Ray Natalli, # Bert Smith
Attendance:
4094
By SportsDirect Inc.
Southern Methodist 77, Rutgers 65: Nic Moore scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half to help the visiting Mustangs pull away to their fourth consecutive victory.
Nick Russell added 16 points as SMU (20-5, 9-3 AAC) completed a season sweep of the Scarlet Knights (10-15, 4-8) and improved to 9-1 in its last 10 games. Cannen Cunningham contributed 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench in a contest that was postponed from Thursday night due to a snowstorm that hit the Northeast.
Myles Mack scored a team-high 17 points - 15 in the second half - for Rutgers, which tumbled to its sixth loss in eight games. Kadeem Jack was the only other player in double figures with 15 points to go along with eight boards.
The Scarlet Knights cut an eight-point deficit to one early in the second half but SMU countered with a 14-2 burst as Markus Kennedy scored five straight points and Moore knocked down three 3-pointers in a row for a 55-42 edge with just under 11 minutes to play. Mack buried a 3-pointer to help the Scarlet Knights close within six, but Moore hit again from long range in a 7-0 spurt to extend the lead to 71-58 with just over 3 1/2 minutes remaining.
The first half was tight throughout before the Mustangs held the Scarlet Knights without a field goal for the final six minutes and opened their biggest lead at 36-29 on Russell’s buzzer-beating jumper. Cunningham provided a lift off the bench with all 10 of his points in the first 20 minutes.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Moore finished 5-of-9 from behind the arc and matched his season high set against McNeese State on Dec. 2. ... Mack (1,131 points) moved past the late Jim Valvano and into 27th place on the school's career scoring list. ... Cunningham has scored 21 points in the last two games after managing a total of 15 in the previous five contests.
Top Game Performances
| Southern Methodist |
|
Rutgers |
|
Nic Moore 21 |
Scoring |
Myles Mack 17 |
|
Nic Moore 5 |
Assists |
Jerome Seagears 4 |
|
Cannen Cunningham 8 |
Rebounds |
Kadeem Jack 8 |
|
Nic Moore 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Kadeem Jack 5 |
|
Ben Moore 1 |
Steals |
Myles Mack 2 |
|
Markus Kennedy 2 |
Blocks |
Kadeem Jack 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Southern Methodist
|
77 |
49.0 |
8-18 |
21-30 |
15 |
31 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
| Rutgers
|
65 |
41.1 |
3-14 |
16-24 |
16 |
31 |
5 |
4 |
7 |