SMU wasted no time asserting its dominance in the second round of the ACC Tournament, rolling past No. 14 seed Syracuse 73-53 on Wednesday night to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. Led by Chuck Harris and Matt Cross, who each scored 12 points, the sixth-seeded Mustangs (23-9) put together a strong all-around performance to advance to face third-seeded Clemson on Thursday.
Boopie Miller and Keon Ambrose-Hylton contributed 10 points apiece for SMU, which shot an impressive 53.2% from the field (25-for-47). Their balanced offensive attack and suffocating defense overwhelmed the Orange, who struggled to find answers after keeping the game competitive in the first half.
J.J. Starling led Syracuse (14-19) with 16 points, while Jyare Davis added 14, but the Orange couldn’t keep pace with SMU’s second-half surge. Unlike their first meeting on March 4—when SMU needed a last-second tip-in by Ambrose-Hylton to escape with a 77-75 home win—the Mustangs controlled this rematch from the start of the second half.
Leading 31-28 at halftime, SMU wasted no time creating separation. The Mustangs opened the second half on a 7-0 run and secured their first double-digit lead at 38-28 when Harris drained a jumper with 16:20 left. From there, SMU never let Syracuse back into the game, maintaining a comfortable margin and extending the lead to 53-38 after a B.J. Edwards layup with 6:07 remaining.
The Mustangs’ largest first-half lead came when Kario Oquendo buried a three-pointer with 1:52 left to put them up 31-22. However, Syracuse responded with back-to-back threes from Starling and Davis in a 40-second span, trimming the deficit to three at the break.
Syracuse got off to a promising start, jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first minute and a half, but SMU quickly recovered and never let the Orange regain control.
With the win, SMU moves on to face No. 3 seed Clemson in Thursday’s ACC quarterfinals, looking to continue its impressive tournament run. The Mustangs will need another strong showing to take down the Tigers and keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
For Syracuse, the loss likely ends its season, capping off a disappointing campaign with a 14-19 record in head coach Adrian Autry’s first year at the helm.
SMU now turns its focus to Clemson as the Mustangs aim for a deep ACC Tournament run.
