Southern Methodist Mustangs (9-8, 3-3 Conference USA) at Rice Owls (8-10, 2-4 Conference USA)
Tipoff: 2:00, 1/29
The Line: Rice by 5
After getting out to an 0-4 start in conference play, the Rice Owls have won back-to-back games against UCF and Houston. They look to continue their hot play against SMU, who carries its own two-game conference winning streak into the match-up.
Even in the victory over Houston, Rice's season-long troubles in guarding the three-point line were evident, and SMU has a number of shooters, who have led the team to a 40.8% mark from long range this year.
The marquee match-up in this game is Arsalan Kazemi (16.4 ppg, 11.4 rpg) of Rice against Papa Dia (17.9 ppg, 8.8 rpg).