SMU vs Cincinnati 1/14/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Cincinnati Bearcats and the SMU Mustangs meet in college basketball action from the Moody Coliseum on Saturday.

The Cincinnati Bearcats will try to build some consistency after alternating wins and losses in each of their last five games after an 83-55 win over East Carolina last time out. Landers Nolley II leads the Bearcats in scoring with 15 PPG along with 4.8 RPG and 2.3 APG while David DeJulius has 14.7 PPG and a team-high 3.9 APG to lead Cincinnati in the assist department this season. Viktor Lakhin has 12.8 PPG with a team-high 7.6 RPG to lead the Bearcats on the glass and Jeremiah Davenport has 10.1 PPG. Mika Adams-Woods has 10.1 PPG and 3.5 APG this season to round out the group of double-digit scorers this season. As a team, Cincinnati is averaging 78.1 points per game on 45.6% shooting from the field, 36.6% from three point range and 69.3% from the foul line up to this point in the year.

The SMU Mustangs will look to snap a three-game losing skid after a 97-88 loss to Tulane in their last game. Zhuric Phelps leads the Mustangs in scoring and assists with 17.5 PPG and 2.5 APG while Zach Nutall has 13.6 PPG as the only other double-digit scorer for SMU up to this point in the season. Efe Odigie has 9.7 PPG with a team-high 6.7 RPG to lead the Mustangs on the glass up to this point in the season. As a team, SMU is averaging 69 PPG on 42.8% shooting from behind the arc, 31.4% from behind the three-point line and 69.4% from the foul line up to this point in the year.

Cincinnati is 10-2 ATS in their last 12 games overall and 5-12-1 ATS in their last 18 road games and 20-45-3 ATS in their last 68 games following a win while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games following an ATS win. SMU is 4-10 ATS in their last 14 home games and 4-13 ATS in their last 17 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 home games.

I get the case to be made for either side in this game, and a home dog can be tempting, but I’ve had a personal issue with SMU all year long and I just don’t think this is a very good Mustangs team. Cincinnati’s been covering numbers left and right and the Mustangs are just really feeling the loss of last year’s talent. I’ll side with Cincinnati for the road win and cover here.