SMU is in need of a strong showing when it takes on Cal Baptist on Tuesday in the first day of the Acrisure Holiday Invitational in Palm Desert, Calif.
SMU (4-2) is coming off an 84-79 loss to visiting Mississippi State on Friday. The Mustangs, who have lost two of their past three games, were within 76-75 with 53 seconds left, but the Bulldogs closed the game on an 8-4 run.
“We’re very, very close to winning some games against good teams,” SMU coach Andy Enfield said after the game. “We just have to keep improving.”
Cal Baptist (4-2) started the season 2-0 but has alternated losses and wins since then. The Lancers head to Palm Desert seeking consecutive wins for the first time since beating Kennesaw State on Nov. 9.
SMU has counted on a variety of players to contribute, including Matt Cross, who made his second start of the season on Friday. Cross had 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists, and he is one of seven Mustangs players who average at least eight points per game.
“Since he’s been healthy, he’s been playing pretty well,” Enfield said of Cross on the SMU radio broadcast. “We just have to get better as a team, as well as Matt.”
Boopie Miller leads SMU at 17.3 points per game. Points haven’t been a problem for the Mustangs, who were 12th in Division I in scoring offense (89.7 points per game) through the weekend and also average 18 assists per game.
Cal Baptist averages 79.5 points and 45.4 shooting from the floor. The Lancers are coming off their best shooting game of the season, 56.1 percent, in a 79-68 win over visiting Eastern Washington on Saturday. Dominique Daniels Jr. and Martel Williams scored 15 points apiece to lead the win.
Daniels leads the team with an average of 19.5 points per game, and Williams and Kendal Coleman are at 12.5 ppg.
Cal Baptist coach Rick Croy said Coleman has been the glue for his team this season.
“We can give him the ball at any time at almost any spot on the floor,” Croy said of Coleman on the CBU Lancers Podcast. “You can count on him making good decisions.”
