SMU guard Kendric Davis looking to break out of slump against Houston
Tim Jankovich says he’d have the Houston team coming to face SMU Basketball Wednesday night in Moody Coliseum higher than the seventh-ranked spot the Coaches Poll has them at. The Mustangs will need a tremendous effort to beat the elite Cougars team at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
SMU Basketball shot poorly in its loss on Saturday to Wichita State and despite the good effort in the second half, it was a disappointing game overall. At the friendly confines of Moody Coliseum, SMU’s coach hopes for a much-needed win.
“They do make their living on defense and tremendous rebounding,” Jankovich said on his weekly radio show. “They have plenty of offense. Having not as much depth in a long season, they’ve managed to stay healthy, but it’s a long year. Their margin of error moving forward in nine games, whatever they have in the league, if they stay healthy, they’re going to be amazing. What they’ve done is incredibly impressive. They’ve become an inside out team far more than they’ve ever been.”
SMU guard Kendric Davis looking to get back on track
SMU point guard Kendric Davis, an AAC Player of the Year candidate, had a quiet night against the Shockers. After his second single-digit scoring effort and a bit of a slump, Jankovich isn’t overly concerned with the star guard.
“Nobody plays great every night,” Jankovich said. “Nobody plays great every week, nobody. I always go back to (Steph) Curry this year. He had a stretch where he was getting 50 or 90 a shot and next thing I look up and he’s 1-for-12 and 2-for-10 and they’re wondering what happened to him. Well, basketball happened to him. It comes and goes that way. He’s (Kendric Davis) going through a tough stretch. I’m not blaming guys that are trying like crazy. I will say he’s had some outstanding defenders on him and people do game plan him.
“He’s got to do a better job of making others better in that situation and others have to do a better job of playing better as well. It’s a group effort. The other night, it wasn’t good enough.”
Kendric Davis needs a big game facilitating the SMU offense against Houston for the Mustangs to help their chances.
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“It’s amazing what he does get done at his size. He’s faced that for two years and he can play through that,” Jankovich said. “We talked a lot Sunday and he knows it and he’s going to try and fix it.”
Kendric Davis is leading the AAC in scoring (19.5, 30th NCAA) and free-throw percentage (87.5%, 39th NCAA). He is in the top five in the league in field-goal percentage (44.8%, 3rd AAC), assists (4.7, 3rd AAC, 58th NCAA) and 3FGs made (2.4, 8th AAC).
SMU faces Final Four type team in Houston
After a rusty start for SMU against Wichita State, now the team had to turn the page quick to the Cougars. It’s a tall task to beat Houston, which is rolling through AAC play.
“I hope that we can find our way back. Houston is not the team to find your way back to offense. Great rebounding. They are fantastic and deserve a lot of credit. They were Final Four last year, they can easily be Final Four this year. They won at Cincinnati by 20. They are a Final Four caliber team.”
SMU Basketball is 11-0 at home this season, and has won 13 straight at Moody Coliseum. UH won both matchups last season after the programs split 2019-20 with each winning at home.
