Arkansas-Pine Bluff @ Southern Methodist preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 24, 2013 ) Arkansas-Pine Bluff 61, Southern Methodist 87

SMU will look to continue its dominating start when it hosts winless Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday. The Mustangs, who have won 25 straight at home, are outscoring opponents by an average of 25 points thanks to a solid defense and balanced offense.

SMU set an American Athletic Conference record by holding Northwestern State to eight points in the first half Wednesday and finished the game holding the Demons to 24.5 percent shooting. "We've played two great halves in our first two games," SMU coach Tim Jankovich said. "We played tremendously defensively the entire game (in Game 3). That was our main focus." The Mustangs have four players in double figures and are forcing 16 turnovers per game. UAPB lost three straight at the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii by an average of 15 points.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF (0-3): Martaveous McKnight leads the Golden Lions with 21 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Charles Jackson is the only other player in double figures at 10 points per game. Kennedy McKinney and Quamauri Hardy each average two steals per game as the Golden Lions average 10 swipes.


ABOUT SMU (3-0): Junior guard Shake Milton leads the Mustangs with 22.7 points while junior Jarrey Foster adds 17 points and six rebounds. Freshman forward Ethan Chargois is averaging 16 points on 64 percent shooting and a team-best eight rebounds while Ben Emelogu adds 10 points and six rebounds. Arkansas transfer Jimmy Whitt has 20 assists, eight turnovers and four steals to go with his 6-point average.

TIP-INS

1. SMU, which was ranked third in scoring defense last year at 60.0 points, is allowing 55.7 points through three games.

2. The Mustangs' longest home win streak is 34 games, spanning the 1954 and 1957 seasons.

3. SMU is 28-0 at home under Jankovich, tied with North Carolina State's Everette Case (1947-49) and Syracuse's Lewis Andreas (1924-26) for the second-best home start by a head coach in NCAA history. Jerry Tarkanian owns the record with 49 straight home wins to start his tenure at Long Beach State (1969-72).

PREDICTION: SMU 82, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 55