By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, JAN. 15, 2014 – Zach LeDay put together his best game of the season close to home, but the Bulls couldn't catch up to SMU after slow start in a 71-54 loss Wednesday night at Moody Coliseum in Dallas.
SMU (12-4, 2-2) opened the game on a 13-0 run before improving to 8-0 at home this season. USF (10-7, 1-3) lost for the first time in a true road game this season after setting a new program record with four straight victories away from the Sun Dome.
"We certainly didn't match their intensity level," head coach Stan Heath said. "They came off a tough game against Louisville and I knew they'd be fired up. We didn't respond the way we should have."
LeDay, a sophomore forward from The Colony, a suburb of Dallas, scored a team-high 12 points after going 3-for-3 from the field and  6-for-8 from the free throw line. LeDay added a team-high six rebounds.
"Zach was back home and he responded well," Heath said. "He had the energy level and he played well, and I don't think the rest of the team had that same energy level Zach had."
Freshman Chris Perry (Bartow, Fla.) was the other Bull in double figures with 10 points, while a five-point performance by Victor Rudd moved the senior past the 1,000-point mark for his career. Rudd (Los Angeles) now has 1,004 points dating back to his freshman year at Arizona State and he needs 34 more to become the Bulls' 18th 1,000-point scorer in program history.
Coach Larry Brown's SMU squad dominated in the paint with a 42-24 scoring advantage and did most of its damage with big men Markus Kennedy and Shawn Williams. Kennedy, a 6-foot-9 forward, went 8-for-11 from the field with a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds. Williams, a 6-foot-7 forward, added 16 points and helped SMU shoot 50 percent from the floor.
"I thought the game would be decided in points in the paint and it pretty much was. They hit us hard," Heath said.
The Bulls headed into halftime trailing, 38-23, after starting the game 0-for-9 from the field while SMU went on its big run. USF's first points came on a pair of free throws from Perry nearly 5 minutes in and Martino Brock's layup cut the deficit to 17-4 with 12:41 to play in the half.
USF started 8-for-28 from the field with eight baskets from eight different players and went 17-for-53 overall against a Mustangs defense that ranks fourth in the NCAA in opponent field goal percentage.
"They looked two steps quicker than us in almost everything they were doing, whether it was going after loose balls, making effort plays or just be everywhere around the court," Stan Heath said. "We had a hard time getting good looks."
Kennedy's jumper boosted SMU's lead to 30-11 with 7:04 remaining, but the Bulls picked up a little momentum by closing the half on a 12-8 run. Williams' layup with 5:30 to go marked the Mustangs' final field goal of the period. Musa Abdul-Aleem inched the Bulls closer with a 3-pointer 5 seconds before the buzzer off a pass from freshman Josh Heath.
Cannon Cunningham's jumper with 11:38 to play pumped SMU's lead up to 56-33 and the Mustangs led by 26 with 4 minutes remaining in their second straight win at newly renovated Moody Coliseum.
USF will see SMU one more time this regular season Jan. 28 at the Sun Dome and the Bulls head back to their home floor this Saturday to host No. 19/23 Cincinnati at 5 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU and fans can purchase tickets HERE.
