CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Chuck Harris and Matt Cross scored 12 points apiece and sixth-seeded SMU beat No. 14 seed Syracuse 73-53 on Wednesday night in the second round of the ACC Tournament.
SMU (23-9) advances to play third-seeded Clemson in a quarterfinal matchup on Thursday.
Boopie Miller and backup Keon Ambrose-Hylton each scored 10 points for the Mustangs who shot 53.2% (25 for 47).
J.J. Starling scored 16 points and Jyare Davis 14 for Syracuse (14-19).
The Mustangs’ win was in stark contrast to their March 4 home win over Syracuse when they led for only 1:28 and needed a tip-in from Ambrose-Hylton with 2.9 seconds left to seal a 77-75 win.
On Wednesday, SMU started the second half with a 7-0-run and recorded its first double-digit lead to make it 38-28 when Harris hit a jumper with 16:20 left. The Mustangs maintained safe distance and extended the lead to 53-38 on B.J. Edwards’ layup with 6:07 remaining.
The largest lead of the first half belonged to SMU when Kario Oquendo buried a 3-pointer with 1:52 left to give the Mustangs a 31-22 advantage. Syracuse quickly countered with 3’s from Starling and Davis in a 40-second span. SMU led 31-28 at halftime.
The Orange got its largest first-half lead at 5-0 in the game’s first minute-and-a-half.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 all season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Copyright © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
