DALLAS, Texas — SMU Basketball begins American Athletic Conference play Wednesday evening, hosting East Carolina University. The Mustangs come into the match up 4-0, off a win at Dayton, followed by a week and a half off. The Pirates are undefeated as well, starting 5-0, beating North Florida most recently.
SMU non-conference play consisted of 3 Southland Conference opponents and Dayton. SMU opened with 3-straight 90-point offensive performances, beating Sam Houston State, Texas A&M Corpus Cristi and Houston Baptist. Dayton challenged the Mustangs in a big way, but they came through in the final minutes of the game, winning 66-64.
Head Coach, Tim Jankovich was proud of the Mustangs win at Dayton saying his team, “Won the game on being competitors.” He liked how his guys were the aggressor coming down the stretch, setting up an Emmanuel Bandoumel game winning shot that left less than a half second for Dayton to match. The attempted tip was no good, which snapped the Flyers 21-game win streak, dating back to December 2019.
Mustang’s guard, Kendrick Davis started the year with a career high, 33-pt performance against SHSU, followed by back-to-back double doubles against TAMUCC and HBU. Davis’ averaging over 20-points per game so far this year, consistently proving he’s an elite offensive weapon.
AAC games will continue through the beginning of March. Each team will play a 20-game league schedule, in a double round-robin format. The conference tournament will be March 11th-14th at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. The Mustangs were picked 3rd in preseason rankings.
Moody Coliseum games have been good to SMU, defending their home court with an 18-2 record over their last 20 games. Tonight’s match-up will be another chance to prove the power of “Moody Magic” in Dallas. The game will tip-off at. 7 pm CT and will be available to stream via ESPN+. Limited capacity, socially distanced seating will be available for fans.
