At a Glance: The Southern Methodist Mustangs (IU +2.0) 8:00 EST BTN

Quick Facts
-Established in 1911

'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan

-6,300 undergraduate students
-Located in University Park, TX (Dallas)
-Main colors- Harvard Red, Yale Blue
-2013/2014 results: 27-10 (NIT Championship loss to Minnesota)
-'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan (pro wrestler) attended. No clue who this is…see right…
-Final Four appearance- 1956
-13 regular season conference championships
-Have not met since both IU & SMU were classified as 'major' schools back 1979-80.

Results Thus Far (1-1/0-0)

11/14 vs Lamar              W 93-54

11/17 @ #13 Gonzaga   L 72-56

SMU Head Coach Larry Brown

Kenpom Rating- 41st 

PPG-74.5 (96) 

Avg. Scoring Margin- +11.5 (91)

APG-16.0 (57)

RPG-39.0 (92)

Pts. Against-63.0 (116)

Fouls per game-20.5 (190)

Scoring/Breakdown

Ben Moore leads in scoring for SMU

 Category Leaders

Points

F #0 Ben Moore-16.5

C #2 Yanick Moreira-11.5

Rebounds

F #0 Ben Moore-8.5

C #2 Yanick Moreira-6.0

Assists

G #11 Nic Moore-5.0

F #0 Ben Moore-3.5

            Well, the season is now FINALLY here folks with Indiana hosting their first real competitive opponent in the hall tomorrow evening. The Southern Methodist Mustangs have a decent resume, but would certainly look more imposing if Emmanuel Mudiay hadn't decided to go play professional ball in China. Mudiay was one of the highest ranked players in the 2014 class. The Mustangs took a good beating the other night in Spokane against the Zags facing their first formidable opponent and have dropped off to 41st in the Kenpom rankings (buy into that as much as you would like). Nonetheless, they still have a legendary coach in Larry Brown whose acumen is extremely sharp and always a threat for any opponent. Clearly Indiana has shown its shooting prowess early on, something we have struggled with in recent years. This year though, the switch is flipped to the big-man role. Hanner has shown much improvement since last season but has not faced a skilled big man. Looks like Yanick Moreira will at least present a decent matchup, a center who can both score and rebound (he should be rebounding well at 6-11 by the way). We have an extremely small sample size to analyze from an offensive standpoint but I am confident IU will hold their own in that realm. Defense is the question since this will be the first real test of Crean's adjustments and tuning in the offseason.
             Most importantly for the cream and crimson, Devin Davis was released from the hospital today. On top of that, Troy Williams, Stan Robinson & Emmitt Holt will return to action against SMU, although in what capacity no one is really sure at this point. With our strong backcourt, lets run, run and then run some more against this team. When the game slows, hunker down and stick to the game plan on defense while being disciplined. For me, this game is the first reading on the thermometer of where we stand. Extremely early reading, but a reading nevertheless. By the way SMU…we don't often lose in Assembly Hall. Let's get at it Hoosiers.

Score Prediction: IU 79 SMU 72

IU Most Valuable Player Prediction: James Blackmon

Quote Before the Game: "When we play our game, our rhythm, our spacing and just take care of the basketball we’re a pretty good basketball team." ~Mike Davis

THIS IS INDIANA BASKETBALL

Drink of Choice

For the glory of old IU...