AAC Tournament: SMU overcomes slow start to defeat UCF and advance to finals

SMU Mustangs battled through rough shooting first half to defeat Central Florida and advance to the AAC Championship game.

It wasn’t the easiest victory for the SMU Mustangs, but they held on and will now advance to the AAC Tournament Championship game for the first time since 2015.

SMU defeated the Central Florida Knights Saturday afternoon 70-59 in the AAC Tournament semifinals at the XL Center.

The Mustangs found themselves in a tight game early with a stingy UCF defense. SMU struggled to score as UCF found themselves in the lead during several points in the first half.

SMU shot 38 percent in the first half. To make matters worse, SMU had seven offensive rebounds, but only four second-chance points in the half.

However, thanks to Semi Ojeleye’s 10 first half points, the Mustangs went into halftime leading 26-23. Ojeleye finished with 17 points.

SMU put their foot on the gas pedal in the second half and pulled away, getting ahead by as much as 14 points.

SMU shot 55 percent from the field in the second half and sank 5-for-8 from three during that point. Shake Milton and Sterling Brown both stepped up their shooting for the Mustangs, draining threes. Brown had 22 points, including 3-for-4 from three-point range, to lead the Mustangs. Milton had 16 points and sank 4-for-9 from three.

The second half clearly wasn’t as tense for the Mustangs as Friday’s quarterfinal win against East Carolina.

SMU played against a much tougher defense than East Carolina and played solid basketball in the second half.

The Mustangs had the rebounding edge over UCF, 30-22. They didn’t get into the paint as much as against East Carolina.

However, SMU successfully passed the ball around to work their way through the defense. The Mustangs had 15 assists to go along with 21 field goals.

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The last time SMU made the finals of the AAC Tournament, they defeated UConn in 2015.