Sophomore guard Jeremiah Samarrippas protects the ball from a Tulane defender during play on Feb. 9, 2011 in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs will face off against the Green Wave at home Wednesday evening. (Spencer J Eggers/The Daily Campus)

The men’s basketball team will play the Tulane’s Green Wave Wednesday in Moody Coliseum.

The Mustangs are in need of a win as they wrap up a three-game homestand that has resulted in two SMU losses so far.

SMU’s struggles are far more reaching than just that. The Ponies have dropped 10 of their last 12, beginning with a home game against Rice on Jan. 11.

If there was an important time to win for SMU, now would be that time. The Mustangs are currently last in Conference USA standings, with a conference record of 2-10 and an overall record of 11-16.

This conference record is just below the records of both East Carolina and Tulane, who each have a 3-9 C-USA record. Houston is just above ECU and Tulane in the C-USA rankings, with a 4-8 conference record.

If everything goes right for SMU in their last four games, they could potentially jump three spots in the rankings to No. 9.

However, this is much easier said than done. After playing Tulane at home, SMU will go on to play away at Houston, who despite a poor conference record, is 11-5 at home this season.

Things don’t get easier for the Mustangs after Houston.

The Ponies continue their road games with a trip to Hattiesburg, Miss., to play the Southern Miss team. They rank first in Conference USA standings. Not only is Southern Miss 22-5 overall, they are a perfect 13-0 at home.

Following Southern Miss, SMU will play UTEP at home.

Focusing presently on Tulane, the Green Wave are led by freshman Ricky Tarrant this season. Tarrant leads the team in scoring with an average of 15.3 points per game, also leading in assists and steals.

In SMU’s last meeting with Tulane this season, the Green Wave handed the Mustangs an 80-74 loss on Jan. 25 at Tulane.

Tarrant scored 33 points that game, including five three-pointers, on 9-17 field goal shooting.

SMU’s normally stingy defense was burned once by Tarrant, hopefully they’ll come out with a successful way to contain the guard.

Other big names for Tulane include minutes and rebounding leader Josh Davis and junior guards Kendall Timmons and Jordan Callahan.

The game tips off at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, and can be listened to on KAAM 770 AM.