SMU took its recent red-hot play to the Sunshine State, but feisty South Florida gave the surprisingly sloppy Mustangs a struggle.
However, thanks to Markus Kennedy’s dominant play, SMU escaped Tampa with a 63-52 win on Wednesday, something they couldn’t say after last year’s resume-damaging loss to the Bulls.
But on Saturday, SMU returns to Moody Coliseum, where it has won its last six games by an average of 20 points.
Another lowly opponent, Central Florida, presents a prime chance for SMU to return to the dominance it has shown for much of conference play. The Mustangs and Knights sit atop the American Athletic Conference in scoring, with 69.9 and 68.1 point per game, respectively. But the Knights rank last in the AAC with 72.8 points allowed per game, the biggest reason they enter the game with a 9-11 record, 2-7 in the American Athletic Conference.
SMU leads the conference with a 48.6 field goal percentage, while UCF allows a league-worst 45.3 percent shooting. UCF also ranks last in turnover margin (-2.9), rebounding margin (-2.9) and is second-worst in scoring margin (-4.7 points per game).
The old Conference-USA foes last met on Jan. 11 in Orlando, with SMU winning 70-61. SMU also won both meetings in 2013-14.
The Knights could also be making the trip to Dallas shorthanded. Leading scorer B.J. Taylor (14.1 ppg) missed Wednesday’s game vs. Temple with a concussion, and the freshman’s status for Saturday is unknown.
The game tips off at 7 p.m. central time and will be televised by ESPNU.
Three-onThree
UCF
- B.J. Taylor: The freshman from Orlando has been great in replacing the graduated Isaiah Sykes, who led UCF in scoring, rebounding and assists last year. Taylor paces the team with 14.1 points per game and has just 21 turnovers in 20 games this year. However, Taylor missed the Knights’ last game, and his status for Saturday is unknown.
- Adonys Hernandez: Also a freshman, Hernandez averages 10.9 points per game and shoots nearly 40 percent from three-point range. He is a solid rebounder as well and only averages 1.7 turnovers per game, a solid number for a freshman.
- Brandon Goodwin: Goodwin, a sophomore, tops all UCF guards in shooting percentage (47.1). He scored 30 points in an overtime win vs. Houston, including three-pointers that sent the game to overtime and won it in overtime. Goodwin also leads the Knights with 3.5 assists per game.
SMU
- Nic Moore: After three of the best games of his career, Moore struggled against South Florida on Wednesday, scoring seven points on 2-of-11 shooting, although he had six assists. Moore leads SMU with 14.8 points per game and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 46 percent from the field and from three.
- Sterling Brown: Arguably SMU’s best defender, Brown had just four points at USF, but has done an admirable job since stepping in for Keith Frazier. He will be key to stopping UCF’s explosive guards.
- Markus Kennedy: The big man had a career day against USF, scoring 22 points (career-high) while making his first eight shots. Kennedy should go to work against UCF’s weak frontcourt.