Jaron Pierre Jr. had 21 points, and Boopie Miller scored 20 points and finished with nine assists to lead SMU to an 86-67 road victory at Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon.
Miller’s clutch shooting (7 for 11 from the field) and Pierre’s 8-for-11 shooting and five rebounds helped the Mustangs (16-7, 5-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) snap a brief two-game losing streak and pick up a needed victory to avoid damaging their NCAA Tournament hopes.
Pitt (9-15, 2-9 ACC) played without its leading scorer Brandin Cummings for the second consecutive game as he sat out with an ankle issue.
Cameron Corhen helped the Panthers pick up the slack on the scoring end with 15 points and was one of three scorers in double figures. But it wasn’t enough for reeling Pitt to score an upset and avoid its third consecutive loss.
A 9-0 run gave SMU its largest lead of the game at 61-41 with 11:18 left in the second half.
The Panthers trimmed the Mustangs’ lead to 14 three different times midway through the second half, but SMU hit a clutch shot each time. B.J. Davis-Ray and Miller each hit triples to keep Pitt from rallying, with the latter long-distance shot giving the Mustangs a 76-58 lead with 5:35 left.
SMU, which entered the weekend 34th in the NCAA’s NET rankings, shot 57.1% (32 for 56) from the field overall, including a staggering 70.4% (19 of 27) in the second half.
The Mustangs were solid defensively, limiting Pitt to 36.1% shooting (22 for 61) overall, including 8 for 33 (24.2%) from 3-point range. Miller led the effort with three steals.
SMU used its athleticism in transition to pick up 25 fast break points, including 13 points off 12 Pitt turnovers.
Samet Yigitoglu totaled 15 points and eight rebounds, and Jaden Toombs had 10 points.
Barry Dunning Jr. scored 12 points and collected seven rebounds for the Panthers, while Nojus Indrusaitis added 10 points.
