5:00 p.m. ET – SMU (-6) at East Carolina O/U:138.5
| Teams | Spread | Money Line | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMU | -6 (-112) | -260 | O 138½ (-105) |
| East Carolina | +6 (-108) | +220 | U 138½ (-115) |
The 10-4 Mustangs travel to Greenville, North Carolina to take on the 8-7 Pirates on Monday night. SMU was last in action on Wednesday, beating Tulsa 65-63. East Carolina lost to Memphis in a hard-fought game on Saturday, 66-59. While the Pirates have lost six of their last seven, they picked up arguably the biggest win in program history last Wednesday with an 82-73 win over Houston, then ranked No. 5 in the nation. ECU also showed vast improvement on Saturday, playing Memphis close after losing two weeks prior to the same team at home by a score of 80-53. SMU hosted the Pirates to open conference play back on Dec. 16, when the Mustangs prevailed 70-55.
SMU is led by guard Kendric Davis who averages 17.1 points per game. Davis also leads the conference with 7.6 assists per game. He totaled 17 points and six assists in the first matchup against the Pirates. East Carolina is led by one of the more underrated players in the entire country in forward Jayden Gardner. He ranks second in the conference in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 17.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, respectively. The Mustangs are 0-4 against the spread in their last four games, and the Under has hit in their past three games.
The Pirates scored 82 last Wednesday in their massive upset win of Houston, but it appears that anomaly from the Pirates has influenced this Over/Under total too much. ECU shot 47 percent from the field in that game, and 45 percent from 3-point range. On the season, the Pirates have shot on average 42.5 percent from the field and only 31.9 percent on 3-point attempts. Expect the Pirates to return to the mean on Monday night. These two teams combined for 125 points in the first matchup, leaving tons of value on the Under in this game. If East Carolina has any shot to win, they need to keep it a low-scoring affair. And also, as we saw in the previous matchup between these teams, a blowout win for the Mustangs is likely crawl Under as well.
