The Michigan Wolverines will travel to Moody Coliseum to take on the No. 19 SMU Mustangs. Action starts at 9:00 pm ET on Tuesday, Dec. 8 and will air on ES2 and ES3.
The Mustangs dismantled New Hampshire 98-44 on Saturday. Keith Frazier was the game’s high scorer with 23 points on 7-for-12 shooting. The Wolverines, meanwhile, are coming off an 82-57 win against Houston Baptist on Saturday. Caris LeVert was the game’s top scorer, registering 25 points on 7-for-13 shooting.
SMU, an eight-point favorite, will look to capitalize at home against Michigan. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at 136 points. The Mustangs have gone 6-0 Straight Up (SU) and 1-3 Against The Spread (ATS). The Mustangs are an impressive shooting team from three-point range with a .441 three-point field goal percentage, one of the highest marks in Division I. Few teams in the nation have a higher assist-to-turnover ratio than SMU, which ranks sixth at 1.77.
In the other locker room, the Wolverines have records of 4-2 ATS and 6-2 SU. The Wolverines rely heavily on three-pointers on offense, ranking 25th in the nation with 81 made (10.0 per game). The Wolverines rarely make costly errors handling the ball. They have the 43rd-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the country at 1.43.
This game marks the season’s first head-to-head clash between SMU and Michigan. Their previous game was a Mustangs victory, moving their SU record against Michigan to 1-0. The Mustangs also hold the advantage ATS with a record of 1-0.
Predictions: SU Winner – SMU, ATS Winner – Mich, O/U – Over
Notes
Southern Methodist is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games.
Michigan won its last game by a 25-point margin. In games decided by a margin of 18 points or more, SMU is 2-0. Michigan is 4-0 in blowouts this season.
The Michigan Wolverines rank 24th for their offensive rating of 118.1. The SMU Mustangs have a defensive rating of 94.3 (ranked 64th).
The SMU Mustangs have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking 13th in the country with an eFG% of 58.3%. The Michigan Wolverines are undefeated with a 1-0 record in games where opponents have a similar or higher eFG%.
On average, SMU attempts 15.0 three pointers and Michigan attempts 23.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the SMU Mustangs are undefeated at 1-0 while the Michigan Wolverines have a winning 5-2 record.
The sixth-ranked team in the category, SMU has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.77 this season. Michigan ranks 43rd with an A/TO of 1.43.
SMU, the 72nd-ranked team in rebounding, register an average of 40.5 rebounds per game. Michigan does worse, ranked 312th with 33.0.
The Michigan Wolverines average 5.6 steals per game. The SMU Mustangs are undefeated with a 6-0 record when they give up at least 5 steals.
