South Florida @ Southern Methodist preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 7, 2017 ) South Florida 65, Southern Methodist 84

SMU will try to extend two long win streaks when the Mustangs host South Florida on Sunday. The defending American Athletic Conference champs have won 32 straight at home and 17 straight against AAC opponents.

A strong defense - which is ranked seventh nationally with 60.4 points allowed - continues to power the Mustangs. Only TCU has scored more than 67 points against SMU and the Mustangs have held their last three opponents under 40-percent shooting. It will be a tough test for the Bulls, especially if leading scorer Payton Banks is unavailable again. The Bulls are last in the conference in scoring (65.6 points) and average 57.9 points in seven losses.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT SOUTH FLORIDA (7-7, 0-1 AAC): Banks, a graduate transfer from Penn State, averages 13.7 points but missed the 79-60 loss against Houston on Wednesday with an illness. Freshmen David Collins (5.6 points) and Justin Brown (5.3) combined for 31 points in Banks' absence. Stephan Jiggetts, a graduate transfer from Fairleigh Dickinson, adds 11.9 points and has 28 assists in his last five games.

ABOUT SMU (11-3, 1-0): Shake Milton has scored double figures in 15 straight games and leads six Mustangs in double figures with a 16.9-point average and a league-best 4.9 assists. Ben Emelogu II (11 points per game) leads the country in 3-point shooting (62.1 percent), while the Mustangs rank eighth nationally (42.5 percent). Junior Jahmal McMurray, who transferred from USF in the middle of the 2016-17 season, is averaging 12.3 points in his first three games at SMU.

TIP-INS

1. The Bulls need one victory to top last year's win total (7-23 overall, 1-17 AAC).

2. SMU's home win streak is the second-longest active streak in the country, trailing AAC rival Cincinnati (33).

3. USF, which is 1-3 in road games this year, hasn't won outside the state of Florida since beating Troy on Dec. 1, 2016.

PREDICTION: SMU 72, South Florida 55