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Unable to pull off a two-game sweep of Utah in their season series, the Southern Methodist Mustangs dropped their third game of the year on Tuesday night in a 62-53 loss to the Utes.
The Mustangs shot just 39.6% from the field in the losing effort, and could only manage to reach the free-throw line 10 times all game long on a night when Utah had no trouble drawing contact. Due to featuring a rotation that only saw seven players receive more than three minutes on Tuesday, SMU could not contain Utah's stable of subs entering the game fresh off the bench.
Both center Cannen Cunningham and guard Jalen Jones each recorded three steals and rarely left the floor for the Mustangs, but star junior guard Nick Russell did not help his team's case with a 6-for-21 shooting performance from the field. Now losers of two consecutive games after winning eight of their first nine contests, the Mustangs will square off with both Wagner and Furman before facing a currently undefeated Wyoming team on Jan. 2.