SMU needs this one to keep their tournament hopes alive. The Mustangs are 15-2 SU at home and coming off back-to-back losses and three losses in their last five overall, BJ Edwards being sidelined with an ankle injury hasn’t helped either. Miami has played very well on the road but interior defense from the Mustangs could create problems since Miami isn’t particularly strong from three. The Mustangs should control the pace as they have the more efficient offense to get a much needed win.
There should be some real concern about SMU right now, because the Mustangs undid some good work with last week’s trip to the Bay Area to face Cal and Stanford. Saturday’s 20-point loss at Stanford left SMU 0-2 on the trip and now welcome in a Miami team that had as many ACC wins (6) in the month of February as anyone not named Duke. SMU, on the other hand, went 4-4 in that same stretch and didn’t provide too much in terms of defensive resistance. Miami plays with a much thinner margin against high-end shooting teams, but whether SMU is in rhythm or not after the West Coast road trip is something to question.
