SMU’s Paulius Ritter posts up against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. (Stuart Palley)
The SMU men’s basketball team will look to end its six-game losing streak and reach its first conference win Saturday night against the University of Central Florida Knights. UCF (11-7, 4-0) will prove a formidable foe for SMU (6-11, 0-4) considering it has yet to lose a conference game.
In their last game against Tulane Wednesday night, the Mustangs fell victim to a late rally and dropped the contest by a final score of 52-67. Senior guard Jon Killen led SMU in both points and assists with 15 and five, respectively.
Junior guard Jermaine Taylor leads the Knights on the offensive side of the ball. Taylor is averaging 20.9 points per game, and over 24 points in Conference USA play. He relies heavily on the three ball and getting to the charity stripe for his scoring. In 18 games, he has taken 116 three pointers and made over 40 percent of them.
Taylor is just one of three guards in the UCF lineup that is averaging in double figures. Dave Noel is averaging 13.2 points per game on over 50 percent shooting, and senior Mike O’Donnell is averaging 11 points per game.
The quickness and outside threat of UCF will provide another test for young players Mike Walker and Ryan Harp on the perimeter. The Mustangs have struggled with perimeter defense so far in conference play. Opponents are shooting 41.7 percent and on average take over 20 shots per game.
Like UCF, the Mustangs have three players that are averaging in double figures. Killen and big men Bamba Fall and Papa Dia are all averaging double digits on the season and in C-USA play.
Dia missed Wednesday night’s game against Tulane with an injury. The Mustangs will need Dia, along with Fall, down low to wear down the Knights’ interior defense and hit the boards.
Fall is building on last year’s defensive success this year by leading the team in blocks with 38 on the season. Fall has started in only five games this season, but provides a necessary spark off the bench. When he enters the game, opposing teams must alter their strategy to account for his defensive skills and post presence on the offensive side of the ball.
The game will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Moody Coliseum.
