SMU will try to pull off a huge upset when it travels to No. 2 Houston on Thursday night in an American Athletic Conference matchup. The Mustangs have won three of their last four games, including their conference opener against Tulsa on Sunday. Houston has only lost one game this season and is coming off a pair of conference wins against Tulsa and UCF.
SMU got off to a slow start in its first season under head coach Rob Lanier, who took the job following a successful stint with Georgia State. The Mustangs lost seven of their first 10 games, with the three wins coming against overmatched opponents. They have started to play better of late, winning three of their last four games. SMU pulled off an 85-81 upset against Iona as a 9.5-point underdog before beating Utah State as a 12-point underdog. The upset streak came to an end with a 58-57 loss to Hawaii on Christmas Day, but the Mustangs covered the 4.5-point spread. They bounced back with a 92-67 blowout win against Tulsa on Sunday, easily covering the 8-point spread.
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Looking to go 2-0 in conference play!
?? : Houston
?? : Jan 5th | 6:00 PM
?? : Fertitta Center
?? : ESPN 2 #ponyupdallas | @thekidthatdid1 1 pic.twitter.com/USJ0GwxRhr— SMU Basketball (@SMUBasketball) January 4, 2023
The Mustangs have been struggling on the offensive end of the court, ranked outside the top 200 in 3-point percentage (32.8) and 2-point percentage (48.1). They are also struggling from the charity stripe and are not grabbing many offensive rebounds. SMU’s strength has been its low turnover rate, which can be attributed to an experienced roster. Sophomore guard Zhuric Phelps leads the team with 18.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He was injured in the win over Tulsa, but he is expected to play on Thursday. Senior guard Zach Nutall is the second-leading scorer with 14.4 points per game. They are facing a Houston defense that ranks second nationally in effective field goal percentage (38.7) and first in block percentage.