Tulane Green Wave (12-8) vs. SMU Mustangs (13-7)
February 1, 2024 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: SMU Mustangs -10; Over/Under: 155
(Get latest betting odds)
The Tulane Green Wave and the SMU Mustangs meet Thursday in college basketball action from SMU Moody Coliseum. Tulane is coming off a loss to Charlotte that dropped the Green Wave to 12-8 this year. As for SMU, they’re 13-7 after a loss to Wichita State on Sunday. Let’s get into our Tulane vs. SMU prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Tulane Green Wave
The Wave had a pretty good start to the year at 10-3 with losses to only Bradley, Mississippi State and George Mason. It’s been a rough 2-5 run since then with losses to North Texas, Florida Atlantic, UAB, UTSA and Charlotte alongside wins over Tulsa and Memphis.
In the Charlotte game back on Saturday, the Wave took another close loss. Tulane was down 40-31 going into the second half and came back well with 40 points from there but still fell 75-71. Kevin Cross was the team’s leading scorer with 16 points, four rebounds and five assists.
SMU Mustangs
Over on the SMU side, they managed a 10-4 start to the year with losses to only Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Dayton and Arizona State. The Mustangs are 3-3 since then with wins over East Carolina, Temple and Tulsa among losses to Memphis, North Texas and Wichita State.
Matched up against Wichita State on Sunday, the Mustangs jumped out to a 41-37 lead by the break. SMU was outscored 40-31 from there however and lost 77-72 in the end. Chuck Harris led the way in the losing effort with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal.
ANDREW’S FREE TULANE VS SMU PREDICTION
I’ll stay with SMU, but you could make a case either way. The Mustangs shot well in their latest loss to Wichita State (50 percent) but also got outmuscled on the boards 36-29 and coughed up 16 turnovers. SMU has now posted consecutive losses by five points or fewer, but they’d won seven of eight before that.
As for Tulane, they’ve lost their last pair of games by a combined five points. If the Green Wave can keep the offense going, I expect this one to be another fairly high-scoring and competitive affair. I like SMU to eke out the cover, but Tulane will keep things interesting.
