SMU Basketball: Mustangs score early and often in victory over Stanford

SMU basketball cruised in the opening half, helping them earn their fifth straight victory.

Who will stop SMU? Nobody has defeated the Mustangs thus far in the month of December, and that includes Stanford.

SMU won their fifth straight game Monday night at home when they squeezed the life out of the Stanford Cardinal, 72-49.

The Mustangs were firing on all cylinders early on, jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the first three and a half minutes of the game. SMU’s lead ballooned from there, as Stanford struggled to score in the first half.

Points piled up for the Mustangs as they scored on the perimeter and inside. SMU scored more points in the paint (20) in the first 20 minutes than Stanford’s total first half points (19).

SMU shot nearly 60 percent from the field in the first half, as they scored 48 points during that time span.

On the evening, Sterling Brown led all scorers for SMU, recording 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting. He shot 3-for-4 from beyond the 3-point line. Semi Ojeleye scored 13 points for SMU and grabbed seven rebounds. Shake Milton finished with 11, while Ben Moore had 10.

Offensively, the Mustangs couldn’t miss in the first half, shooting nearly 60 percent from the field.

Marcus Sheffield led Stanford in scoring with 13 points. Robert Cartwright had 11 points, while Reid Travis finished with 10. SMU’s defense kept Travis scoreless in the first half, which in turn, kept Stanford’s offense quiet. The Cardinal made nearly 21 percent of their shots from the field and went 1-for-8 from beyond the arc during the half.

With the win, the Mustangs move to 9-3 on the season. Stanford meanwhile drops to 7-4. SMU plays one more home game before starting conference play. They face Albany Tuesday night. Stanford heads back home on Thursday night to take on Idaho.