SMU Basketball hosts Cincinnati with NCAA Tournament hopes in play
SMU Basketball heads into Thursday night’s matchup against Cincinnati with hopes of ending a 10-game losing streak to the Bearcats. A win would break the streak and keep NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
Back in January, SMU Basketball suffered one of its worst defeats of the season on the road at the hands of the Bearcats. David DeJulius had 22 points and Mika Adams-Woods scored 17 and Cincinnati beat SMU, 77-60.
For the Mustangs, it was a bad night against a team head coach Tim Jankovich said could go on a run to win the AAC Tournament. The Bearcats have lost four straight.
“Cincinnati, that was a rough night for us,” Jankovich said on his radio show Monday night. “We played Cincinnati and they got all over us. We were not very good at all, but I also felt like they were really, really good. There are a couple teams, they’re one of them, that could easily win the conference tournament, come out of nowhere because they’re that talented.”
On Tuesday, Cincinnati fell to Houston, 71-53. Still, it was an encouraging effort against one of the best teams in the country.
“We had more of a fight, obviously,” UC guard Mike Saunders Jr. told The Cincinnati Enquirer. “This game, we were really fighting and we just kept having that same mindset that regardless of how the game went, we were going to keep playing to our principles. I think that worked out for us, especially for the first 20 minutes.”
SMU Basketball needs tremendous effort vs. Bearcats
Despite the recent struggles, Jankovich said it’s hard to see why the Bearcats have lost to Temple, UCF, USF and Houston.
“They have been struggling. I’m trying to figure out why,” SMU Basketball’s head coach said. “You think, well they must be shooting terrible. They’re shooting a lot of 3s and shooting them good. The free-throws are fine and the rebounding is. I don’t get it, but I know from firsthand experience, that is a really good thing. We are going to need a really good crowd and a really good effort on Thursday night. I am positive of that.”
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John Newman III, who suffered a serious injury late in the 2019-20 season and has played hurt much of the year, has had consecutive games of 11 points and eight or seven rebounds. Ody Oguama is also averaging 15.7 mpg over the last six (9.2 the previous five). He had 10 boards in the first SMU game.
Overall, SMU Basketball is keeping its head down and focused on one game at a time. SMU finishes up the regular season on Sunday against Tulane, but it’ll need all its focus on Thursday night.
“Important, important game and are playing, to me, one of the most talented teams in our league, without question.”
Up in the air is the status of SMU guard Zhuric Phelps, who went down with a quad injury against Tulsa last month. Jankovich said he’s progressing faster than expected in his recovery.
SMU Basketball’s game tips off at 6 p.m. CT on ESPNU. The school will honor SMU Football legend Reggie Dupard at halftime with the Silver Anniversary Mustang Award.
