Mustangs’ Jon Killen drives the ball to the basket (John Schreiber)
The SMU men’s basketball team will take on the University of Houston Cougars tonight at 7 at Moody Coliseum. The Cougars (11-3) won both meetings against SMU (6-8, 0-1) last year by double-digit scores.
The Cougars feature a senior-heavy starting lineup with big guards but undersized post players. This means that Mustangs Bamba Fall, Paulius Ritter and Papa Dia will need to adjust to quicker post players.
In spite of the Mustangs’ height advantage, playing the Cougars will challenge the Mustangs in new ways. They will have to contend with the fast pace of the Cougars’ offensive attack and fast breaks.
The obvious tradeoff of SMU’s height advantage is reduced speed. This means that Coach Matt Doherty may feature a smaller lineup that includes Ryan Harp playing alongside three other guards or ask post players to get up and down the court quicker.
Another challenge the quickness of the Cougars poses is boxing out players on the defensive glass. In order to beat a top-flight team, SMU can ill-afford to give up second chances.
As a team, SMU has a negative assist to turnover ratio and struggles at times with an aggressive press put on by quick guards. The Cougars will undoubtedly test the ball handling skills of Mike Walker, Jon Killen and Derrick Roberts.
Leading the Cougars this season is Connecticut native Robert McKiver. McKiver averages over 20 points per game and is the most prolific scorer on the team. The Mustangs will need to contain one of the conference’s top scorers in order to knock off Houston.
Last time out against UTEP, the Mustangs faced a prolific scorer from the guard position in Stefon Jackson. Even though Jackson posted 27 points on 11-20 shooting, the experience of defending one of the nation’s top 10 scorers could prove beneficial for the Mustangs in defending the Cougars’ McKiver.
SMU comes into tonight’s game looking to snap a three-game losing streak. Senior guard Jon Killen is coming of the best offensive game of his career. He rode three-point shots (6-11) on his way to a career best 24 points. Killen can also move up three spaces in SMU career assists. He would need five assists in order to pass Jemeil Rich for 13th place.
The game will take place at Moody Coliseum and will be broadcast locally on channel TXA 21.
