SMU’s Derrick Roberts handles the ball on the perimiter (Stuart Palley)

In the final game of the regular season, the SMU men’s basketball team has a chance to surpass its conference wins total from last season. SMU (9-19, 3-12) will take on the Rice Owls (3-25, 0-15) and try to hold the team winless in the conference.

Last time against Rice, the Mustangs cruised to victory by a 68-53 count at Moody Coliseum. Senior guard Derrick Roberts led all Mustangs by scoring 20 points, while freshman forward Papa Dia led the way with nine rebounds.

This season the Rice Owls basketball stadium is under renovation. This has forced all of the Owls home games to be played at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.

The move out to Katy has hurt attendance for the Owls, who are averaging less than 800 fans per game. This may well be a factor in their 1-11 home record.

The Mustangs played the No. 3 ranked Memphis Tigers in their final home game of the season on Wednesday night. The game was a vast improvement over SMU’s first match up with the Mustangs, even though the Mustangs lost by a final score of 72-55.

In the game, Killen led the Mustangs in scoring with 16 points. As a co-captain of the team, senior guard Jon Killen has led the Mustangs on the court in minutes (35), points (13.3), assists (5) and steals (1.5) per game.

While the Mustangs are assured the No. 11 seed in the conference tournament, the game still has meaning for the young Mustangs. A win over Rice would give SMU a season sweep of the Owls and top last year’s conference win total.

This would mark not only general improvement, but also show the younger players on the team that their contributions have impacted the team.

The game is currently scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m.