DALLAS, Texas — SMU won the free-throw battle and its season opener in Dallas on Monday night, pulling away from Southern 85-72 behind 24 points from freshman forward Jakub Szumert.
Szumert, a 6-foot-9 newcomer from Poland who played professionally there before college, needed only six shots from the field to get his total. He hit five of them and went 13 for 14 at the foul line, and he added seven rebounds. Jermaine O’Neal Jr. scored 15 points for the Mustangs, and Oziyah Sellers chipped in 13.
The game turned at the line. Southern actually made three more field goals than SMU, 26 to 23, but the Mustangs outscored the Jaguars 32-12 on free throws.
SMU carried a two-point edge, 40-38, into halftime and then scored the first nine points after the break, with Jaden Toombs hitting two shots in the paint during the run. Southern answered with a 9-1 burst that got it within 52-49 with 13:25 to play, but Szumert hit a 3-pointer and two free throws on the next two trips to push the margin back out. An eight-point SMU run later made it 67-53.
Toombs, a do-everything presence, posted nine points to go with a team-best eight boards, seven assists and three blocked shots. Southern spread its scoring across 12 players, with R’Chaun King leading the way with 12 off the bench, and the Jaguars forced 21 SMU turnovers with 17 steals.
The win opened Andy Enfield’s third season as SMU coach. SMU, which reached the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time since 2017, hosts VMI on Thursday. That matchup is the second of six straight home games and the first ever meeting between the two programs.
Section: More Dallas TX sports news
Filed under: Dallas TX Sports News
