The Mustangs head to the University of Memphis at 7 p.m. tonight in a nationally televised Conference USA game.
SMU (7-16, 1-9) is looking to break a seven game conference-losing streak and a chance to climb out of last place in the conference standings. After losing three early games and dropping out of the rankings in the seventh week of the season, the now No. 5 Tigers (22-3, 10-0) have shown an impressive climb in the AP poll over the last five weeks. Memphis’ respective positions in the poll from weeks ten through 14 are 22, 18, 14, 8, and 5.
The Tigers’ top-five ranking brings new challenges for SMU. Added to the task of breaking Memphis’ 52 game conference win streak, is the fact that the Mustangs have not beaten a ranked opponent since 2003, going 0-9 during that span (six of those were against Memphis). According to SMUMustangs.com, the last time SMU defeated a top five team was when the No. 7 Mustangs defeated Head Coach Matt Doherty’s alma mater, No. 5 North Carolina in 1985 (the year after Doherty’s senior season), and the last time an unranked SMU squad upset a top five team was against No. 3 Indiana in 1967.
SMU lost its first matchup against the Tigers this season by a score of 79-66, after playing close with Memphis for most of the game. The Mustangs, however, do not have a history of playing well in Memphis’ home stadium, FedExForum, losing by 36 points in 2007 and 29 in 2008.
The game will feature a pair of top freshmen in Conference USA, as Memphis’ Tyreke Evans and SMU’s Paul McCoy both lead their teams in scoring. Evans averages 16.9 points-per-game to spearhead the highest scoring offense in the conference. McCoy scores 13.8 points-per-game and is increasingly becoming the Mustangs’ go-to-guy in close games. The two first-year players have combined to be the Conference USA Rookies of the Week in nine of the 14 weeks that the award has been announced, with Evans winning a conference-record seven times and McCoy winning twice.
After their match against the Tigers, SMU returns home for a 7 p.m. game against Rice University on Saturday at Moody Coliseum.
