The SMU Mustangs and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors meet Sunday in college basketball action from Stan Sheriff Center. SMU is currently 5-7 this year. The Mustangs beat Utah State in their last game. As for Hawaii, they’re 8-3 following a win over Washington State on Friday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
SMU has beaten Texas A&M-Commerce, Evansville, Lamar, Iona and Utah State so far this year. The Mustangs have lost to Dayton, New Mexico, Louisiana, Texas A&M, Jackson State, Arizona State and TCU otherwise, though.
The Mustangs got off to a great start versus Utah State on Friday, hitting a 40-32 halftime lead. SMU was able to hang on from there and won 77-74. Zhuric Phelps led the team on 19 points with eight rebounds and four assists.
Over on the Hawaii side, they’ve lost to only Yale, Texas A&M-Commerce and UNLV this year. The wins otherwise have been over MS Valley State, Eastern Washington, Hawaii Pacific, Sacramento State, Texas State, St. Francis PA, Pepperdine and Washington State.
Matched up against Washington State on Friday, the Warriors held a slim 24-23 lead at the break. Hawaii surged on a 38-28 run from there and won 62-51. Samuta Avea led the way on 19 points, and JoVon McClanahan added 16 points.
PICK: I’m going to lean toward Hawaii. Probably not touching this one, though; you could make a good case either way. The Warriors started slow against Washington State on Friday, but to their credit the team finished strong. Hawaii ended up shooting 48.9 percent from the field in the victory but had just 3-of-11 (27.3 percent) on 3-pointers and 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) from the line. Hawaii is on a nice three-game win streak right now, however the team has had some duds here and there this season. As for SMU, they beat a very good Utah State team on Friday despite getting out-rebounded 49-29. The Mustangs controlled the ball well (five turnovers) and shot a nice 48.3 percent overall. This matchup should be another close one, and I like Hawaii to eke it out on the cover.