UTSA Roadrunners vs SMU Mustangs Prediction, 3/2/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: UTSA Roadrunners vs SMU Mustangs

Date: Saturday, March 2, 2024

Location: Moody Coliseum in University Park, TX

TV: ESPN+

The UTSA Roadrunners (10-19) are traveling to Moody Coliseum on Saturday where they will take on the SMU Mustangs (19-9).

The UTSA Roadrunners played Tulsa and walked away with a win by a score of 89-73 in their last contest. When talking about personal fouls, the Roadrunners walked away with 18 while Tulsa totaled 21 personal fouls. They converted 5 out of their 21 shots from three-point range. Tulsa ended up shooting 69.0% when shooting free throws by making 20 of their 29 attempts. Moreover, Tulsa pulled down 35 boards (2 offensive, 33 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Tulsa recorded 9 dimes and had 3 steals for the contest. In reference to defending, UTSA allowed their opponent to shoot 44.4% from the floor on 24 of 54 shooting. They also distributed 23 assists for this contest in addition to forcing the other team into 11 turnovers and having 7 steals. In reference to grabbing rebounds, they earned 36 with 7 of them being of the offensive sort. At the free throw line, the Roadrunners knocked down 19 of 31 shots for a percentage of 61.3%. UTSA ended the contest having earned a 44.4% field goal percentage (28 of 63) and knocked down 14 of their 33 shots from downtown.

Jordan Ivy-Curry is one guy who came through in this matchup. He accounted for 20 points on 5 out of 12 shooting. He played for 28 minutes played and also snagged 7 rebounds. He finished the game shooting 41.7% from the field and distributed 2 dimes.

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UTSA will play this game with a mark of 10-19 this year. They are turning it over 11.4 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 18.3 personal fouls every game. As a unit, UTSA is snagging 40.1 boards per contest and has earned 405 dimes on the campaign, which is 110th in the nation in terms of passing. The Roadrunners are shooting 33.6% on three-point shots (284 of 844) and 70.9% from the charity stripe. They average 78.0 points per contest (70th in D-1) while shooting 41.1% from the floor.

When they are on the defensive end, the Roadrunners are forcing 9.7 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.0 fouls. They give up 36.7% from beyond the arc while they are 358th in college hoops in points per game allowed (81.7). The Roadrunners defensively are allowing a shooting percentage of 45.1% (827 of 1,833) and they concede 38.2 rebounds per game as a squad. They are currently ranked 345th in college hoops in giving up assists with 441 conceded for the season.

For their last game, the SMU Mustangs walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 79-68 against South Florida. Regarding cleaning up the glass, SMU allowed South Florida to snag 28 overall (4 offensive). They finished shooting 38.1% from behind the 3-point line by connecting on 8 out of 21 and finished the game at 27 out of 30 from the free throw line (90.0%). The Mustangs allowed South Florida to bury 22 of 43 attempts from the floor which had them shooting 51.2% in this contest. Overall, the Mustangs ended up shooting 24 out of 71 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 33.8%. When talking about three-point shots, SMU knocked down 5 out of 20 tries (25.0%). They were able to knock down 15 of the free throw tries for a rate of 48.4%. South Florida committed 19 fouls in the game which got the Mustangs to the free throw line for 31 attempts. They also coughed it up 8 times, while getting 9 steals in this contest. The Mustangs snagged 16 defensive rebounds and 24 offensive boards totaling 40 in the matchup.

Ricardo Wright pitched in for the Mustangs in this game. He made 6 out of 13 in the matchup for a rate of 46.2%, and tallied 2 rebounds. He earned 16 points in his 21 mins of playing time and added 1 assist for this game.

SMU has a win-loss mark of 19-9 on the year. The Mustangs commit 16.6 personal fouls per game and they hit 68.1% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 15.9 times per game (40th in college basketball) and they cough up possession 11.3 times per game. SMU has scored 2,160 pts so far this season (77.1 per game) and they snag 40.0 rebounds per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Mustangs are hitting on 45.7% from the field, which is 124th in the nation.

The Mustangs defensively are ranked 46th in D-1 in PPG given up with 66.7. They are able to force 13.1 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 40.3% from the floor (22nd in college hoops). The SMU defense concedes 30.1% on 3-pointers (181 of 602) and opponents are connecting on 70.2% of their free throw attempts. They allow 13.2 dimes and 34.2 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is ranked 208th and 146th in the nation.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take SMU

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