Ben Moore, Sterling Brown Lead No. 24 SMU Past Tulane 74-53
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DALLAS (AP) — Ben Moore scored 16 points and Sterling Brown added 15 as No. 24 SMU beat Tulane 74-53 on Sunday.
The win moves SMU (24-4, 12-4) back into a first-place tie in the American Athletic Conference with Temple.
Malik Morgan had 15 points and Louis Dabney added 12 for Tulane (10-19, 3-13), which dropped into a last-place tie with East Carolina.
SMU trailed 33-32 with 17:21 remaining in the game when it went on an 11-0 run to move ahead for good. The Mustangs shot 64 percent in the second half after shooting only 37.9 percent during the first half. That allowed them to finish at 50 percent to equal their season average, which ranks sixth in NCAA Division I.
Nic Moore, the Mustangs' leading scorer at 14.6 points per game going in, was shut out in the first half and finished with five points to match his lowest output in his three seasons at SMU.
The Mustangs went into the game ranked seventh in NCAA Division I in rebound margin at plus-10.1. They outrebounded the Green Wave 42-20.
SMU appeared to pull away following a slow start with a 9-0 run late in the half that lasted 3:19 and put it ahead 28-21. But the Green Wave answered by scoring the final eight points of the half, including Morgan's second 3-pointer, to grab a 29-28 lead.
The 28 points were SMU's second-fewest in a half this season. They managed only 23 against Tulane in the teams' first meeting, a 60-45 Mustangs win on Jan. 17. SMU shot a season-low 40.4 percent in that game.
SMU went into the game averaging 12.1 turnovers and the Mustangs committed 12 in the first half, leading to 11 points.
Nic Moore's only field goal in nine attempts was a 3-pointer from the right corner that extended the Mustangs' lead to 53-44 with 9:57 to go.
TIP-INS
Tulane: Dylan Ostekowski came in with four straight doubles-doubles and finished with seven points and four rebounds. . Jernard Jarreau, who has started 11 games this season, missed his 10th straight game with an ankle injury but might return this season.
SMU: Jordan Tolbert scored all 11 of his points in the second half. . With one more home game remaining this season, the Mustangs are 23-3 at home in three American seasons.
UP NEXT
Tulane: at Central Florida on Wednesday.
SMU: hosts Connecticut on Thursday.
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