Nicholls State at Southern Methodist 3/16/22 - College Basketball Picks & Predictions

The Nicholls Colonels will be in Dallas, TX for a first round match up in the NIT tournament against the SMU Mustangs. Nicholls finished the season 10 games above .500 on the year following a seven point loss in the conference semifinals to Texas A&M-CC. Nicholls lost 71-64 to Texas A&M-CC after the Islanders shot 42.4% from the floor to score 71 points in the game including 38 in the first half. 

Offensively Nicholls had issues as Latrell Jones led the team in scoring with twenty points on eight of 17 shooting in 34 minutes on the floor. Devante Carter chipped in 17 points in 38 minutes and Ty Gordon scored 14 points on five of 16 shooting.

The SMU Mustangs come into the NIT tournament 23-8 overall following a seven point loss to Memphis that ended their season. Offensively SMU struggled against Memphis making only 38.5% of their shots and turned the ball over 12 times leading to the defeat.

Kendric Davis Is the leader of the SMU offense averaging 19.4 points per game to go along with a team leading 4.5 assists. Marcus Weathers is second of the team scoring 12.8 points and boasts a team leading 7.5 rebounds, while Emmanuel Bandoumel chips in a third best 10.9 points a game.