Vegas Line at this writing: SMU -6 (No total at this writing)
Tonight we feature the often forget about American Athletic Conference (AAC) as the defending national champion UConn Huskies travel to Dallas, Texas to take on the SMU Mustangs and coached by the legendary Larry Brown. Kevin Ollie had to figure that this would be a rebuilding year after losing Shabazz Napier and DeAndre Daniels to the NBA but he probably never imagined that after 23 games the champs would be 14-9 and staring down the barrel of an NIT bid. SMU was last year’s most glaring Big Dance snub and the Mustangs got off to a rocky start this year in non-conference play losing three of its first five. Since then, SMU has won 20 of 22 with the only losses coming against a feisty Cincinnati Bearcat outfit.
This is the first meeting between the two this year with the rematch set for March 1st in Storrs. SMU won both meetings last year winning 74-65 (-2, 133) here and 64-55 (+6.5, 133.5) at UConn. The Mustangs are 5-1 in AAC play here with all five wins by 14+ points. Conference home favorites of six points or less are 9-4 this year. The Huskies have lost three of four and are 0-1 as an AAC road dog losing by 12 at Cincinnati. Not the greatest spot for UConn which played Thursday, took a long flight here and plays again all within 48 hours.
UConn: The Huskies have four players averaging double-digits but are thin off the bench. Guard Ryan Boatright (18.0, 4.5, 4.4) was a key component of last year’s championship squad but has had to pretty much go it alone this year. Rodney Purvis (10.3) is a North Carolina State transfer who sat out last year. Just a sophomore, Purvis will the show in the future. Amida Brimah (10.0) and Daniel Hamilton (10.0) make up the front court but as a soph and freshman respectively, are still learning and have their best days in front of them.
SMU: The Mustangs returned three main cogs from last year’s 27-10 team and big things were expected for the 2014-2015 bunch but …. early losses at Gonzaga, at Indiana and to Arkansas had pundits wondering if this team was the real deal. Hall of Famer Larry Brown righted the ship quickly and not without adversity. Justin Martin, a key player off the bench, left the team for personal reasons and starter Kevin Frazier (10.5, 4.0) was lost to academics. Nic Moore, a 5’9″ PG, quarterbacks the Mustangs and averages 14.6 per game while knocking down better than 45% of his three point shots. C Yanick Moreira gives you 11.6 points and 6.8 boards per game while PF Markus Kennedy (10.9/5.8) shoots 57% from the field and is another big body in the paint.
Allen’s Angles
UConn is 15-9 L22 as a dog, 2-2 this year
The Huskies are 4-7 ATS in conference
The Over is 14-8 in UConn’s L22 road games, 5-2 this year
The Under is 20-11 in the Huskies L31 after allowing 60 or less points
SMU is 24-13 ATS L37 at home, 6-4 this year
The Mustangs are 9-3 Under when playing on a day’s rest
The Over is 6-3 the nine Smoo home games
The Under is 21-13 in SMU’s L34 conference games