SMU Hosts Tulane On Wednesday At 7 p.m.

SMU concludes a three-game homestand by hosting Tulane on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Mustangs then hit the road for games at Houston and Southern Miss before hosting the regular-season finale against UTEP on March 3. SMU is 7-5 at Moody Coliseum this season and 21-10 in the last 31 games on campus.

Robert Nyakundi leads C-USA in 3-point percentage at 41.7% (65-156) (28th NCAA) and ranks second in threes made (2.5), 10th in scoring (14.8) and fourth in free throw percentage (.812). London Giles is averaging 10.7 points, is T-11th with 1.7 3FG per game and is shooting 82.0% on free throws. Giles also leads SMU with 1.2 steals per game (T-15th C-USA). Jeremiah Samarrippas is fifth in C-USA with 4.0 assists per game and fifth in C-USA at 1.7 assists per turnover.

Giles leads a group of newcomers that are contributing this season. Three of the top five scorers for SMU are playing in their first season for the Mustangs. Giles, a junior (transfer from Nevada), is second at 10.7 points, freshman Jalen Jones is third at 8.4 points and sophomore Shawn Williams (transfer from Texas) is fourth at 6.5 points.

As a team, SMU ranks second in C-USA and 24th in the NCAA in scoring defense (60.0). The Mustangs are averaging 6.8 steals per game on the season, and have upped that to 7.3 per league game (3rd C-USA). On offense, the Mustangs have made 200 3-pointers, which is fifth in a season at SMU. The 7.4 threes per game lead C-USA and are 68th in the NCAA.

SMU has been missing a starter in three of the last six games. Team scoring leader Robert Nyakundi missed the game at East Carolina on Feb. 1 (right hamstring), point guard Jeremiah Samarrippas was out for the game at Rice on Feb. 11 (right ankle) and London Giles was out for the home game against UAB on Feb. 15 (concussion).