SMU will look for its sixth consecutive victory to open the season when it visits Temple on Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia.
The Mustangs, who were picked to finish third in the American Athletic Conference, began conference play with a resounding 70-55 victory over East Carolina.
Kendric Davis leads SMU (5-0, 1-0 AAC) in scoring at 20.4 points per game, one of four players to average in double figures. Ethan Chargois (13.0), Emmanuel Bandoumel (12.8) and Feron Hunt (12.8) also lead the scoring attack.
Davis has earned three AAC weekly honors already this season.
The matchup against Temple (1-1, 0-1) will be the Mustangs' first game in two weeks because of COVID-19 issues. Since the season began, SMU has dealt with postponements, cancellations and schedule changes like most other programs in the country.
The challenge will be to continue its solid play after a long layoff.
"It is a little surreal. Surreal is the way to describe it," SMU coach Tim Jankovich said of the bizarre season. "I would say the last seven, eight months have been surreal. Certainly coaching college basketball in that environment falls into that category."
This will be the 15th career meeting between the two schools with the series tied at 7-7.
Temple, meanwhile, will be trying to respond after a 76-50 loss at No. 5 Houston in league action Dec. 22.
The Owls' season was delayed at the beginning because of COVID-19 and this will only be their third game.
Damian Dunn leads Temple in scoring (12.5) followed by J.P. Moorman II (11.0).
The Owls continue to be a work-in-progress under second year coach Aaron McKie, a former star at his alma mater.
"We have to do a better job with being more physical and aggressive on the defensive end," Moorman said. "It starts from our front line defense, but we didn't do a good job guarding Houston's players."
For Temple to succeed, it will need balance each time out. There doesn't appear to be one particular standout player on this new-look roster.
"They'll make mistakes, but that's how you make up for them," McKie said. "They'll get the opportunity to use their voice, be coachable and play unselfish. That's my expectation for all the guys."
Temple is 6-2 against SMU at home and the teams split a pair of games last season. They were scheduled to play in the opening round of the conference tournament before it was canceled amid the pandemic.
--Field Level Media
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