Following the game against the Temple Owls, the SMU Mustangs will face the daunting task of clashing with the No. 7 ranked Cincinnati Bearcats.

The Mustangs lost to the Bearcats, 65-57, to bring in the New Year and open up the conference schedule. This is a different Mustangs team, though.

As the year has advanced, SMU has started to find its rhythm. Now, the Mustangs are looking to break into the top 25, and they would likely get that with a victory against Cincinnati.

The last time these two teams met, Markus Kennedy was part of a mixture on offense in order to score. Now, Kennedy is the focal point of the offense.

While it isn’t absolutely crucial that he put up 15-10, it helps the SMU offense tremendously when he does. He and Nic Moore will have to be at the top of their respective games in order to beat the Bearcats.

In addition, the return of Yanick Moreira (questionable versus Temple) could help the Mustangs. His efficient scoring and rebounding (second on the team with 5.6) could be key against Cincinnati.

This should be a low-scoring affair, as both teams are top-20 in field-goal percentage defense. If SMU is going to make sure of this, they have to limit the amount of opportunities given to big man Justin Jackson and volume scorer Sean Kilpatrick.

Jackson is averaging 11.3 ppg and 7 rpg. Kilpatrick gets most of his work done from the three-point line (59 makes this season) and the charity stripe (118 free throws made this season.

Cincinnati ranks 17th nationally in opponent’s field-goal percentage, however, they rank 119th in opponents three-point percentage at 33.1 percent. So, it is crucial that the Mustangs utilize Moore, Keith Frazier, and Sterling Brown to get three-pointers.

After the match-up against Cincinnati, SMU travels to Rutgers for a clash at 6 p.m. Thursday.