The East Carolina Pirates and the Southern Methodist Mustangs meet Sunday in college basketball action from SMU Moody Coliseum. East Carolina is 13-12 so far this year. The Pirates beat Cincinnati in their last matchup. As for SMU, they’re 9-18 overall following a loss to Houston on Thursday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
East Carolina Pirates
East Carolina posted a 10-8 run over their first 18 games of the year. In their last seven outings, the Pirates are just 3-4 with losses to South Florida, Temple, Wichita State and South Florida again. The wins were over Tulsa, SMU and Cincinnati.
In the Cincinnati rematch on Wednesday, the Pirates trailed 37-29 going into halftime. East Carolina posted a 46-34 run the rest of the way and won it 75-71. Ezra Ausar managed to double up with 14 points and 14 rebounds in the victory.
SMU Mustangs
Over on the Southern Methodist side, they limped to a 7-13 start over their first 20 games this year. The Mustangs are 2-5 in their last seven with losses to Memphis, Tulane, East Carolina, Wichita State and Houston in that time.
On Thursday versus Houston, the Mustangs were drilled 43-29 in the first half. SMU managed to keep the pace from there but still lost 80-65. Zhuric Phelps was the leading team scorer on his 22 points and six rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’m going to take a stab on SMU here. The Mustangs have had it rough lately (and most of the year), however they’re 2-1 in their last three at home and they’ve scored 65 or more points in four straight outings. These teams last met up on February 4 at Minges Coliseum. SMU took a tough 77-72 loss in that one after falling behind 40-32 in the first half. If the Mustangs can get off to a good start at home in the rematch I think they’ll be in good shape for a revenge cover. Should be a pretty competitive game.