After beating Rice 61-39 on the road in a bounce back win after two consecutive losses, SMU climbed to 3-7 in Conference USA play thanks to a another big performance from Ryan Manuel, who tallied 16 points and four rebounds for his fifth straight game of scoring 10 or more points.
The Mustangs now turn their attention to a Fox Sports Net televised game with Tulane in New Orleans at 1:30 p.m. CT. SMU beat the Green Wave in their first matchup this season, 59-53 in Dallas and SMU will look to improve on its .500 road game winning percentage on the season.
The Green Wave will enter game with a 4-6 record in C-USA play and if the Mustangs can continue to be aggressive and attack the way the team did against Rice, there is no reason to believe that the Mustangs will not come out of New Orleans with a win.
SMU will need a big night out of Manuel and Jalen Jones, who have been playing well lately and Jones has been the leading scorer for the team all season. Cannen Cunningham had a big day with 13 rebounds in the win over Rice so another solid effort in the paint from him would do the Mustangs wonder.
Cunningham will be the x-factor in this game because of forward Josh Davis, a 6-8 junior, who leads Tulane in scoring with 17.6 points per game and rebounds, with 10 a game. If Cunningham can take care of Davis down low, the Mustangs may be able to limit Tulane from shooting the ball from the outside.
The Mustangs meet the Green Wave for the 28th time with the Mustangs holding a slight edge in the series (15-12), but 12 of the Mustangs’ wins have come at home and only three have been on the road against Tulane.
SMU will play its final two games in Moody Coliseum in its current configuration as the Mustangs host East Carolina on Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. and Rice on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.