SMU Mustangs vs. Houston Cougars Prediction & Game Preview - 2/27/2022

Time: 12:30 p.m. ET

Venue: Fertitta Center, Houston, TX

Where to watch: ESPN

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SMU: 20-6 (11-3 AAC)

No. 14 Houston: 23-6 (12-2 AAC)

Well I didn't think it would come to this but this game on Sunday is going to determine who wins the American Athletic Conference regular season championship. And I don't think anybody anticipated this matchup this late in the season to be the deciding factor knowing that the Houston Cougars have played as well as they have this season being ranked 14th in the country.

But the SMU Mustangs have hung around for a great deal of this season and at the very least, SMU has a chance to really make some noise heading into March. Houston comes in at 12-2 in conference play while the Mustangs are 11-3. It was only two weeks ago that Houston played SMU in Dallas for the first time this season and the Mustangs upset Houston 85-83 in what turned to be a rough few days for the Cougars. Houston lost to Memphis at home three days later by 10 points.

So clearly there is a lot riding on this game at this point, and with SMU going on a run of four wins in five games, the Mustangs are set up pretty well in this potential conference championship at least regular season game before things get going for the fun of it in March.

SMU recorded its 20th win of the season on Wednesday in a 75- 61 victory over Tulsa at home. Marcus weathers led the way with 14 points and 13 rebounds to give the Mustangs their 14th straight victory at home. Clearly, Moody Coliseum has turned into a place no one wants to play. Kendrick Davis also had 17 points to lead the Mustangs, who had four players scoring double figures en route to shooting 49% from the floor.

Not to say that a win against Tulsa isn't impressive in the slightest, because Tulsa is only 9- 17 this season but at least they were able to take care of business in the form of this game as they are expected to do. If you are going to contend for a conference championship, the least you can do is take care of business and SMU did that by holding Tulsa to just 36.4% shooting from the floor.

But since those back to back losses against SMU and Memphis, Houston has reeled off three straight victories with wins over Central Florida by 18, Wichita state by two in double overtime and most recently a 14 point victory over Tulane on Wednesday. Tulane actually kept things close with Houston trailing only by 5 at halftime, but the Cougars proved why they are one of the top teams in the country. Kyler Edwards finished with 21 points on seven of 14 shooting, and Taze Moore had 18 points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists.

Houston shot 50.8% from the field against Tulane, another stamp in what has been inefficient offensive season for this Cougars team. They assisted on twenty of their 31 shots and only turned the ball over eight times. Tulane only turned the ball over four times in the loss, but still shooting less than 45% of the field was not going to cut it for the Green Wave.

It's always fun when these two get together because we're watching two very good offensive teams go at it. Houston has the edge in defense, allowing only 59 points per game while SMU is giving up 67 per game, but both teams are shooting above 45% from the floor and are very good at both perimeter defense and on the interior. It's almost like a perfect marriage for these two teams that have been two of the best in the AAC all season long and it's going to be fun to watch this game.

I almost want to root for SMU just for the chaos purposes of Houston not winning the regular season conference championship. And it's not necessarily a lock that Houston will not win the regular season title if they lose this game but with SMU holding the tiebreaker, it does put things in a little bit of a dampered mood for a little bit. All that being said, I think Houston will play a great game and will get revenge on SMU at home. I think it will be as high scoring as the last meeting was so definitely take the over, but I am feeling Houston to get a narrow victory and essentially seal the regular season title. Houston by 3

SMU is 6-1 ATS this season following a game with five or less offensive rebounds.

The over is 125-89 when Houston plays at home since 1997.

Houston is 92-59 ATS after allowing 30 points or less in the first half in consecutive games.

PG: Kendric Davis

SG: Michael Weathers

SF: Zach Nutall

PF: Emmanuel Bandoumel

C: Marcus Weathers

PG: Jamal Shead

SG: Kyler Edwards
SF: Taze Moore
PF: Fabian White
C: Josh Carlton

Points: Kendric Davis -- 19.1

Rebounds: Marcus Weathers -- 7.1

Assists: Kendric Davis -- 4.8

Points: Kyler Edwards -- 13.6

Rebounds: Josh Carlton -- 6.7

Assists: Jamal Shead -- 5.5