The Mustangs conclude their regular season on Saturday as they travel to the University of Houston for a game at 7 p.m.
SMU (9-19, 3-12), still looking for its first win on the road this season, holds last place in the Conference USA standings. Houston (18-10, 9-6) beat the Mustangs 69-56 in the teams’ previous meeting this season and is tied with UTEP for fourth place.
The Mustangs have other reasons to work for an upset of the Cougars. A win would prevent the Mustangs from ending the regular season with less than 10 wins. It would be head coach Matt Doherty’s first season with less than 10 wins as a head coach since his 2002 North Carolina squad finished a disappointing 8-20. Furthermore, an SMU win coupled with a Southern Miss loss to UTEP would pull the Mustangs out of last place after spending the majority of the season there
SMU continues to be led by freshman Paul McCoy, who averages 13.4 points-per-game. However, McCoy is not the only first year player who has stepped up to lead the team. A first year player has led SMU in scoring in 25 of 28 games this season, with 20 of those being a combination of McCoy and guard Derek Williams. The Mustangs have
Houston’s junior guard Aubrey Coleman was named to Conference USA’s National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District team on Thursday, being selected to the first team along with Memphis’ Tyreke Evans and Robert Dozier, Tulsa’s Jerome Jordan and Central Florida’s Jermaine Taylor. Coleman averages a team high 19.7 points-per-game and scored 20 points in the Cougars first game against SMU.
The Cougars enter Saturday’s game as the highest scoring team in the conference, averaging 74.5 points-per-game in conference play. With Coleman’s ability to drive to the basket, Houston’s offense relies heavily on dribble penetration and shooting free throws. The Cougars have made more free throws (276) than SMU has attempted (220) this season. Conversely, the Mustangs are the lowest scoring team at 60.7 points-per-game, and have the lowest free throw shooting percentage at 64.1 percent.
