NCAA basketball on Monday night and we will see the LSU Tigers travel to Moody Coliseum in Abilene, Texas to take on the SMU Mustangs in the 2nd round of the NIT Tournament. The game has a start time of 9:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN. Vegas odds have the Mustangs listed as 7 point favorites, while the total sits at 143.
Stat Pack: The LSU Tigers come in having dispatched the San Francisco Dons in the opening round of the NIT Tournament. The win now has them, at 20-13 on the year, but they have struggled on the road, going 4-8. The Tigers come in averaging 74/9 ppg, which is 71st in the nation. This is not a great shooting team as they hit just 44.4% of their shots overall (163rd), 34.2% of their shots from long range (185th) and 67.0% from the charity stripe (270th). The offense is led by Johnny O’Bryant, who averages 15.3 ppg on a solid 49.1% shooting from the field. He is also second on the team in rebounding at 7.7 rpg. Jordan Mickey leads the team in rebounding (7.8 rpg), while also ranking 2nd on the team in scoring (13.0 ppg). Andre Stringer (11.7 ppg) and Jarell Martin (10.4 ppg) round out the double digit scorers on the team. Defensively the Tigers do allow just 41.0% shooting overall (57th), but they also allow teams to hit 35.1% of their threes (221st), while allowing 71.0 ppg, which is 206th in the nation.
As for the SMU Mustangs, they took care of UC Irvine (68-54) in their first round game, The win now has them at 24-9 on the year overall and 14-1 at home. The SMU Mustangs are a team that is built on a stifling defense, as they come in ranked 21st in the nation in points allowed (62.0 ppg), 4th in defensive FG% (37.7%) and 52nd in 3 points defense (31.8%). at home this year they have allowed just 58.8 ppg on 35.2% shooting. Now this team isn’t all about defense, as they average 71.3 ppg (169th) overall and 75.5 ppg at home. This is a very good shooting team as they connect on 48.2% of their shots overall (19th) and 37.4% from long range (61st). The offense is led by Nic Moore, who averages 13.5 ppg, while Markus Kennedy leads the team in rebounding (6.9 rpg) and is the only other Mustang that averages in double figures (12.0 ppg).
Pick: I like the Under in this game. LSU like to play an uptempo pace, but this SMU team has the ability to slow the game down, especially on their home floor. LSU is a poor shooting team and this SMU defense is one of the best in the nation, especially on their home, where they have allowed just 58.8 ppg on 35.2% shooting. Overall the Mustangs are 4th in defensive FG% (37.3%) and 52nd in 3 point defense (31.8%), while LSU is 163rd in shooting overall (44.4%), 185th in 3 point shooting (34.2%) and 270th in free throw shooting (67%). SMU averages a modest 71.3 ppg overall and they are a good shooting team, but they are not an uptempo team and they also struggle at the charity stripe, hitting just 68.3% of their freebies, which is 231st in the nation. SMU home games have averaged just 134.4 ppg this year and I can't see the Tigers getting this game at their pace on this floor. I look for no more than 135 in this one.
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