Halftime Report

SMU is giving their home crowd exactly what they were hoping for. They have jumped out to a quick 38-33 lead against Miss. State.

If SMU keeps playing like this, they'll bump their record up to 5-1 in no time. On the other hand, Miss. State will have to make due with a 4-1 record unless they turn things around (and fast).

Who's Playing

Miss. State Bulldogs @ SMU Mustangs

Current Records: Miss. State 4-0, SMU 4-1

How To Watch

What to Know

SMU will be in front of their home fans on Friday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-court advantage. They will host the Miss. State Bulldogs at 8:30 p.m. ET at Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 91.8 points per game this season.

SMU is headed into Friday's match after beating the impressive 162-point over/under the oddsmakers set for their last game against Prairie View. SMU claimed a resounding 110-69 victory over Prairie View. The Mustangs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matchups by 29 points or more this season.

Among those leading the charge was Matt Cross, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 12 rebounds. He had some trouble finding his footing against Butler on Friday, so this was a nice turnaround. Another player making a difference was Samet Yigitoglu, who almost dropped a double-double on 11 points and nine rebounds.

SMU smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in 25 consecutive contests dating back to last season.

Meanwhile, Miss. State entered their tilt with Utah on Sunday with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They walked away with a 78-73 win over the Utes.

Miss. State got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was KeShawn Murphy out in front who dropped a double-double on 18 points and 14 rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Murphy a new career-high in offensive rebounds (seven). Josh Hubbard was another key player, earning 23 points.

SMU's win was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-1. As for Miss. State, their victory bumped their record up to 4-0.

Keep an eye on the arc in Friday's game: SMU has made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 8.8 threes per game. However, it's not like Miss. State struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.2. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.

Odds

Miss. State is a slight 1.5-point favorite against SMU, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Bulldogs as a 1-point favorite.


The over/under is 157 points.

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