Jaron Pierre Jr. scored a season-high 35 points, including the decisive 3-pointer in overtime, as SMU outlasted Texas A&M 93-80 on Sunday afternoon in the Hoop Hype XL Matchup at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
Pierre scored SMU’s first seven points in overtime, including a stepback 3-pointer with 2:38 left to give the Mustangs a five-point lead. Two free throws each by Boopie Miller and Corey Washington added to the Mustangs’ advantage as the Aggies missed free throws in the final minutes to short-circuit their comeback chances.
Miller finished with 19 points while Washington had 14 and Samet Yigitoglu racked up 12 points and eight boards for SMU (9-1), which bounced back from its only loss of the season. B.J. Edwards recorded a near triple-double with nine points, nine rebounds and 11 assists.
Marcus Hill paced Texas A&M (7-3) with a season-high 25 points. Mackenzie Mgbako and Rashaun Agee added 13 each for the Aggies, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.
The Mustangs, playing their third straight game against a Southeastern Conference opponent, led by 14 points at halftime but just 53-51 with 11:32 to play after a rousing Texas A&M charge.
A&M went in front on a steal by Rylan Griffen and a layup by Mgbako with 2:07 to play. Pop Issacs’ 3-pointer with 1:17 remaining increased the Aggies’ lead to four points before Edwards made a pair of free throws with 36.2 seconds left to bring SMU to within two. A Pierre layup 11 seconds later tied the game at 77-77 and ultimately produced the extra period.
The Aggies reeled off 10 of the game’s first 12 points to set the pace, with Ruben Dominguez’s jumper at the 16:52 mark punctuating the early run. SMU swung back, producing its own 10-0 run and taking the lead on Miller’s two free throws with 14:20 remaining in the first half.
The Mustangs slowly pulled away, moving in front after a 16-16 tie and stretching their advantage to 31-22 on a 3-pointer from Miller with 4:31 to play in the half. A pair of free throws by Edwards with 2:16 left stoked the advantage to 12 points and two more from the charity stripe by Pierre with 0.2 seconds to play pushed the margin to 41-27 at the break.
Pierre led all scorers with 11 points before halftime, while Yigitoglu had 10 on 5 of 6 shooting from the floor for the Mustangs. Hill’s nine points led A&M, which shot just 27.3% from the field in the half.
