SMU coach Andy Enfield believes star forward B.J. Edwards' right ankle would have been ready by Friday if the Mustangs had found a way to advance out of the First Four at the NCAA Tournament.
Only SMU didn't, falling to Miami (Ohio) with the senior guard out of the lineup. The Mustangs had indicated Edwards might have been available for the tournament at large, which the NCAA selection committee indicated played a factor in giving SMU an at-large berth in the 68-team field.
Enfield brushed off the suggestion that the fact Edwards didn't play could hurt how the selection committee views the Mustangs in the future.
“We deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament if you look at all our metrics and our wins,” Enfield said. “We all thought that B.J. would be back.”
Enfield described Edwards' injury as “serious." Edwards hadn't played since tweaking the ankle against California on Feb. 25. Enfield credited Edwards for making every effort to be available by Wednesday. Instead, Edwards — who averaged 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists — was “a day short” of being cleared by SMU's medical staff.
“It was heartbreaking when he said, ‘I’m just not quite (there),'” Enfield said. “We thought he’d be right there. But it’s a very heartbreaking thing to have someone that wants to be out there and just can’t do it. It didn’t feel comfortable quite yet.”
The Mustangs (20-14) made the tournament despite an 8-10 mark in the ACC. Their resume did include wins over conference powers North Carolina and Louisville, though they also lost to struggling Syracuse.
“As far as the committee, what they’re — we deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament, bottom line,” Enfield said. “That’s pretty to the point right there.”
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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