SMU Mustangs vs Rice Owls Prediction, 2/7/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: SMU Mustangs vs Rice Owls

Date: Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Location: Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN+

The Rice Owls (9-13) will go up against the SMU Mustangs (15-7) at Tudor Fieldhouse on Wednesday.

The SMU Mustangs faced UAB and walked away with a win by a score of 72-69 in their last game. In relation to personal fouls, the Mustangs ended up finishing with 12 and UAB recorded 15 personal fouls. They also converted 6 out of their 19 tries from beyond the perimeter. UAB shot 81.8% at the charity stripe by knocking down 9 of their 11 attempts. Furthermore, UAB had 31 boards (9 offensive, 22 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. UAB totaled 21 assists and had 3 steals for this game. In relation to defense, SMU allowed the other team to go 48.2% from the floor on 27 of 56 shooting. They also recorded 19 assists for the contest as well as forcing the opposition into 15 turnovers and earning 12 steals. In the matter of getting rebounds, they earned 26 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. At the free throw line, the Mustangs made 11 of their 17 tries for a rate of 64.7%. SMU ended the contest with a 43.8% field goal percentage (28 out of 64) and converted 5 of their 23 three-point shots.

Chuck Harris is one player who was a factor in this contest. He went 35.7% from the field and also dished out 5 dimes. He played for 31 minutes and totaled 3 boards. He accounted for 14 points on 5 out of 14 shooting.

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SMU enters this game with a win-loss record of 15-7 on the campaign. They cough up possession 11.7 times per contest and as a unit they are committing 16.7 fouls every game. As a unit, SMU is pulling down 40.0 boards per game and has accounted for 349 dimes for the year, which ranks 56th in the country in terms of passing the ball. The Mustangs are shooting 33.9% on shots from downtown (159 of 469) and 68.9% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 75.6 pts per contest (144th in the country) while connecting on 45.5% from the floor.

On defense, the Mustangs are forcing 13.0 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 14.9 fouls. They are ranked 171st in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 285 conceded so far this season. The Mustangs defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 38.7% (502 of 1,298) and they relinquish 34.8 boards per contest as a team. They are relinquishing 27.5% on shots from beyond the arc and they are ranked 22nd in D-1 in PPG allowed (64.2).

When they last stepped on the court, the Rice Owls got the victory with a final of 80-76 when they played UTSA. In the matter of cleaning up the glass, Rice allowed UTSA to snag 32 overall (10 on the offensive side). They went 28.0% from behind the 3-point line by shooting 7 of 25 and finished the contest at 13 of 17 at the charity stripe (76.5%). The Owls permitted UTSA to knock down 28 of 65 attempts from the floor which left them shooting 43.1% in this game. Overall, the Owls ended up shooting 28 for 59 from the floor which had them sitting at 47.5%. In regard to shooting from 3-point land, Rice knocked down 12 of 29 tries (41.4%). They were able to make 12 of those for a percentage of 66.7%. UTSA was called for 16 fouls for this game which took the Owls to the free throw line for a total of 18 shots. They also coughed up the ball 11 times, while earning 3 steals in this matchup. The Owls pulled down 21 defensive boards and 9 offensive rebounds totaling 30 in this game.

Mekhi Mason ended up being a major contributor for the Owls in this matchup. He totaled 30 points in his 33 minutes on the court and earned 2 assists for the matchup. He made 11 of 19 in this contest for a field goal percentage of 57.9%, and had 2 rebounds.

Rice has a win-loss record of 9-13 so far this year. The Owls commit 15.2 fouls per game and they connect on 69.3% from the free throw line. They are dishing out assists 14.8 times per contest (99th in Division 1) and they lose possession via turnover 12.6 times per game. Rice has tallied 1,615 pts so far this season (73.4 per game) and they snag 36.4 boards per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Owls are hitting on 43.9% from the field, which ranks 235th in college basketball.

The Owls on defense are ranked 279th in college basketball in points allowed per game with 75.5. They are forcing their opponents into 11.4 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 45.0% from the floor (274th in college basketball). The Rice defense surrenders 35.6% on 3-point shots (181 of 509) and their opponents are converting on 73.7% of their free throw attempts. They concede 14.5 dimes and 35.6 rebounds on a nightly basis, which ranks them 310th and 224th in those categories.

Who will win tonight's NCAA basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Rice

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