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GAME NOTES: The Houston Cougars and SMU Mustangs are tied for sixth place in the Conference USA standings, and the two will square off tonight in a late- season clash at Moody Coliseum in Dallas.

Houston snapped a two-game slide with Wednesday's 92-77 win over Memphis. However, that win came at home, and two of the Cougars' final three games will be on the road. Following tonight's tilt, they'll return home to face Rice on Wednesday, before wrapping up the regular season at Tulane next weekend.

SMU has won two of its last three outings, including a 59-54 triumph at East Carolina earlier this week. The Mustangs have enjoyed most of their success at home this season, and they've won four of their last five contests at Moody Coliseum. After tonight, they'll travel to Tulsa on Wednesday, followed by another home game against Marshall next Saturday to close out their schedule.

Houston has won the last nine meetings with SMU to take a 42-22 series lead.

The Cougars lit up the scoreboard against Memphis, shooting 50 percent from the floor and putting 92 points on the board. Aubrey Coleman led all scorers with 34 points to go along with eight rebounds, while Kelvin Lewis added 18 points. Kendrick Washington scored a career-high with 16 points in addition to his game-high nine rebounds, and Maurice McNeil rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points. Houston played pesky defense throughout the game, turning 17 Memphis turnovers into 23 points. Coleman, who shot 11-of-19 from the floor and 9-of-10 at the foul line, now has seven 30-point games on the season. He leads the nation with 25.7 ppg and is also pulling down 7.4 boards per contest. Lewis has knocked down 83 three-pointers (.399) on the year and is posting 15.1 ppg. As a team, the Cougars are averaging 78.6 ppg on the year. They are a -7.9 in rebounding margin, though they rank among the nation's leaders with a +8.1 turnover margin.

The Mustangs don't have anybody with Coleman's scoring ability, but their offense is a bit more balanced. Derek Williams headlines the group with 16.9 ppg. Papa Dia, a 53.6 percent shooter from the floor, controls the paint with his 11.8 ppg and team-best 8.5 rpg. Also helping out down low is Mouhammad Faye, who averages 10.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest. While the Mustangs don't score at the same pace as Houston, their defense is much stronger. SMU boasts C-USA's second-ranked scoring defense (58.6 ppg), and on Wednesday night the Mustangs held ECU to 54 points on 38.8 percent shooting from the floor. However, they had to grind out the win down the stretch after nearly squandering a 12-point advantage over the final 12 minutes. Williams led the way with 13 points, followed by Dia with 10.

Houston will undoubtedly want to push the tempo, while the Mustangs will try to slow things down to their preferred pace. Whichever team is able to establish the tempo will prevail. Give a slight edge to the visiting Cougars, who have owned the last nine meetings in this series.