Aubrey Coleman and the Cougars head into Saturday's matchup with SMU in Dallas riding high after a 92-75 win over Memphis on Wednesday. | Justin Flores/The Daily Cougar
After earning a huge 92-77 win over Conference USA rival Memphis on Wednesday, the Cougars return to the road when they travel to Dallas to take on SMU at 7 p.m. Saturday at Moody Coliseum.
UH (14-13, 6-7 C-USA) looks to build off of a huge win over the Tigers and to carry over that momentum into the final three contests of the regular season. Two of those games are on the road, so the Cougars’ late push will be even more difficult as the C-USA tournament draws near.
The Cougars have had an up-and-down season to this point and sit tied with SMU and Southern Miss for sixth place in C-USA.
Senior guard Kelvin Lewis knows that the Cougars’ last win will mean nothing come Saturday’s tipoff.
“The Memphis game was a big win; everybody had fun. We were locked in,” Lewis said. “SMU is a good team. They took us down to the wire when we had them (at Hofheinz Pavilion), so we know it’s going to be even a tougher game at their place.
“We’re ready to go.”
Lewis is averaging 15.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game this season. He also leads the Cougars in free throw efficiency (76.1 percent) and is averaging 1.9 steals per game.
SMU (13-14, 6-7) is 3-3 in its last six games and is coming off a 59-54 win on the road Wednesday against a struggling East Carolina opponent.
The Mustangs have three players averaging double-figures in scoring, led by senior guard Derek Williams at 16.9 points per game. Junior forward Papa Dia anchors the frontcourt and is averaging 11.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
“Williams is a great guard, great scorer, great penetrator, great disher — everything,” Lewis said. “Papa Dia is a great force down … he’s a problem to deal with (as) a lefty. They’re really good, both of them.”
What Williams is doing for a mediocre SMU team pales in comparison to what senior guard Aubrey Coleman is doing for the Cougars. With 34 points against Memphis, Coleman, the nation’s leading scorer, is now averaging 25.7 points and 2.8 steals per game, good for third in the NCAA.
The Cougars will need more of the same from Coleman if they are to improve on their 4-7 road record.
“We’re just going to focus on one game at a time,” Lewis said. “We got SMU, we’re going to take it out one game at a time and have some fun, see what happens.”
In the teams’ Feb.13 meeting, the Cougars survived with a 66-60 home win. Lewis led the Cougars with 29 points, and Coleman had 16 points and eight rebounds in the win. Williams paced SMU with 24 points.
