SMU wins AAC regular season crown for 1st league title in 22 years

By The Associated Press

DALLAS -- Nic Moore batted the ball high in the air as the final buzzer sounded while Markus Kennedy started hugging any teammate he could find.

No. 22 SMU had its first league title in 22 years after rallying past Tulsa 67-62 on Sunday in a game that decided the American Athletic Conference regular-season championship.

And maybe Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown and the Mustangs can rest a little easier about the NCAA tournament a year after getting snubbed and reaching the NIT championship game, losing to Minnesota.

Or not.

"No, no, no. No way," senior Cannen Cunningham said with a smile after cutting off the question. "I still believe we should have got in last year. The only guarantee is to win this tournament coming up, so that's what we have on our plate right now."

That would be the AAC tournament in Hartford, Connecticut, starting Friday for the Mustangs (24-6, 15-3).

In the meantime, the resume is at least a little stronger thanks to Kennedy scoring 12 of his 16 points after halftime and Moore pitching in 14 and several big baskets and free throws to help the Mustangs come back from six points down early in the second half.

SMU is looking for its first NCAA berth since winning the old Southwest Conference in 1993.

"We better get in the NCAA," said Brown, whose team was the only one of the top five in the AAC that didn't get in last year after finishing in a three-way tie for third that included eventual national champ Connecticut. "I didn't politick last year. But if we don't get in, there's something wrong."

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Related Links:

• SMU Athletics: CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS!
• The Dallas Morning News: SMU seniors fittingly grab AAC title in final home game
• The Dallas Morning News (Photos): SMU captures AAC regular season title with former President George W. Bush watching
• The Daily Campus: Mustangs win first conference championship since 1993