What To Watch For: South Florida at SMU
TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 11, 2022) -- South Florida concludes its two-game road trip Wednesday in Dallas in an American Athletic Conference contest at SMU.
Most recently, the Bulls got a career best 17-points from Jamir Chaplin but dropped a 68-54 decision at Tulane on Saturday.
SMU suffered a 77-60 setback at Cincinnati last Thursday. It was the Mustangs first loss since Nov. 22.
BullsInsider.com has your quick facts and what to watch for against SMU:
Quick Facts
Matchup: USF (5-9, 0-2 AAC) at SMU (11-4, 2-1 AAC)
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 12
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Dallas, TX | Moody Coliseum
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: USF Bulls Unlimited
History: This will be the 18th meeting between USF and SMU. USF trails in the series 6-11. The two programs haven’t met since Laquincy Rideau hit a three-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining to give the Bulls a 61-60 victory on Mar. 7, 2020.
The Opponent: The Mustangs are 9-0 at home this season, have won 11 straight home games and has won 30 of its last 34 games at Moody Coliseum.
Kendrick Davis makes SMU go. Davis, a preseason All-ACC First Team member, is averaging 21.1 points (1st AAC), 5.1 assists (2nd AAC) and 1.6 steals (9th AAC) with a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio (4th AAC). Davis is also fourth in the AAC in FG% (47.3) and 3FG% (38.4) and first in FT% (89.0).
Davis uses shot fakes to set up his drives. He has a very nice hesitation move and a good stop and pop game. He prefers to drive right. When driving left, he will spin back right to score.
Senior guard Emmanuel Bandoumel (BAN-doe-mel) has started every game this season and is one of three Mustangs averaging at least 10 points per game. Bandoumel is tough to guard. He drives either direction and can finish with either hand. He likes the hesitation move. More than half of Bandoumel’s shots are threes and he is making 38.1 percent of them. Will use a shot fake to set up his drive. Likes the hesitation move. USF must find him in transition.
Duquesne grad transfer Marcus Weathers plays bigger than his 6-foot-5, 215-pound frame. Weathers has long arms and is the Mustangs’ best rebounder (7.0 rpg) and has twice as many OREB as any of his teammates. USF must cut him out. Weathers does not shoot many threes but he is a capable shooter when he has space and time. You cannot lose him on defense or he will cut to the basket for a pass to score. He and his twin brother Michael have a nice two-man game.
Speaking of Michael Weathers, the 6-foot-3 guard leads the Mustangs with 16 blocks. He is susceptible to shot fakes because he tries to block every jump shot his man takes. Weathers is a very good on-ball defender. He doesn’t get into guys as much as he harasses them. Michael Weathers also wears his shorts disturbingly short.
Freshman guard Jalen Smith (Orlando, FL) does not score often but he is a capable perimeter shooter, a very good perimeter defender and has some dog in him.
SMU plays almost exclusively man defense (91.7 percent) and is limiting opponents to 39 percent shooting in that defense. SMU also uses some 1-3-1 zone, with Marcus Weathers at the top, and 2-3 zone. Sometimes the 1-3-1 will morph into a 2-3 zone on the first pass below the free throw line extended. The Mustangs have a zone press and man press.
The Mustangs are playing more four-out motion this season but Tim Jankovich still calls plenty of set plays.
Keys To A Win
The Bulls must adapt to the changing defenses, limit turnovers, make shots, control the glass, cut off lobs and backdoor cuts and defend the three-point line. USF must also make things difficult for Davis.