Southern Methodist @ UNLV preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 22, 2009 ) Southern Methodist 53, UNLV 67

Unbeaten SMU will try and build on an impressive win at Evansville when it travels to Las Vegas to face UNLV on Saturday night. The Mustangs started their two-game road swing with a 59-57 victory over the Purple Aces, who had upset top-ranked Kentucky just a week earlier.

Although UNLV has struggled out of the gate under first-year coach T.J. Otzelberger, losing four of their last five games including a 64-57 home loss to Texas State on Wednesday, SMU players believe the game with the Runnin' Rebels will provide a measuring stick. "Playing on the road, back-to-back road games, it's going to test our toughness," junior guard Tyson Jolly told SMUMustangs.com. "It's going to test our togetherness. We're going to see how well we can stay together, fight and try to come out with another win in a tough environment." Still, it will be hard to top the win over an Evansville team that was receiving votes in both top-25 polls after its win at Kentucky. "When you go on the road and shoot 30 percent, and then you win, that is a tremendous win," SMU coach Tim Jankovich said. "Especially when you do it against a team who just beat the No. 1 team in the country."

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, No TV

ABOUT SMU (4-0): The win at Evansville was the 10th victory under Jankovich over a team ranked or receiving votes since he took over in 2016 and and first since a 83-78 victory over No. 4 Wichita State on Jan. 17, 2018. Jolly, who began his career at Baylor and was a junior college All-American last season, and junior forward Ethan Chargois both scored 15 points while forward Isiaha Mike added 11 points and tied his career-high with 13 rebounds for his fifth career double-double. Jolly leads the team in scoring (18.3) while Mike (17.8) is second with sophomore forward Feron Hunt also averaging in double figures (11.0) while also grabbing a team-best 9.5 rebounds per game.

ABOUT UNLV (2-4): The Rebels own home wins over Purdue Fort Wayne (86-71) and Abilene Christian (72-58) and lost to Kansas State (60-56 in OT) and at Cal (79-75 in OT) and UCLA (71-54) before Wednesday's home loss to the Bobcats. Otzelberger promised to play a more up-tempo style that relied on perimeter shooting, but so far UNLV is averaging just 66.7 points while shooting 43.7 percent from the floor, including 33.1 percent from 3-point range. Junior guard Amauri Hardy leads the team in scoring (18.8) while shooting 44.7 percent from behind the arc while Utah transfer Donnie Tillman (12.5) and Texas transfer Elijah Mitrou-Long (11.8) also are averaging in double digits.

TIP-INS

1. This is the front end of a home-and-home series between the two schools that moves to Dallas next season. The series is tied 3-3 with UNLV winning the most recent meeting, 67-53, in the 2009 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu.

2. SMU finished with a 47-24 rebound edge at Evansville, including a 17-3 margin in offensive rebounds. The plus-22 margin was the largest for SMU in two years.

3. The Mustangs are shooting 77.9 percent from the free-throw line which ranks 30th nationally.

PREDICTION: SMU 68, UNLV 63