SMU (19-7, 10-3 AAC) at Florida Atlantic (20-6, 10-3 AAC)
Abessinio Court at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena – Boca Raton, Florida
Thursday, February 22, 2024 – 7pm ET / 6pm CT
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DALLAS – Looking back at the two wins SMU men's basketball picked up last week, it's easy to hone in on the impressive performance against Memphis at home. The start-to-finish domination had the Moody Coliseum faithful fired up as the Mustangs extended their win streak to six straight. 

But for SMU coach Rob Lanier, the midweek outing at Tulane was equally, if not more, important. The comeback victory gave the Mustangs a 5-4 mark away from home and their second straight road victory of the season. 

And with what's coming in American Athletic Conference play this week, those lessons away from Dallas should prove to be very important. 

"If you're going to contend in conference play in any conference, you're going to have to win your share of games on the road. And we've been fortunate to do that," Lanier said during Monday's coaches show. "We did let a couple of those get away, close games, but we still have kept ourselves in the hunt by being able to win on the road a little bit."

SMU (19-7 overall, 10-3 AAC) heads to the Sunshine State for a pair of battles against teams currently sitting among the best in the league. It starts at 6 p.m. on Thursday with a visit to Florida Atlantic (20-6, 10-3), followed by Sunday's 11 a.m. tipoff against current AAC frontrunner South Florida (19-5, 12-1). 

FAU concluded its time in Conference USA last year by going 31-3, winning the conference tournament, reaching the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in school history and making a run to the Final Four. Coach Dusty May brought back nearly the entire roster from that historic season and the Owls have been in the top 25 until the most recent polls were released. 
While FAU is still receiving votes, the Owls did fall out of the rankings after suffering a 90-86 loss to South Florida last week. FAU was down by 15 at the break, but rallied with 55 second half points to get back in contention down the stretch. 

The win was crucial for South Florida as the Bulls have reeled off 11 straight victories since losing to UAB back on January 7. While six of those victories have been decided by two possessions or less, South Florida continues to find a way under first-year head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. Abdur-Rahim's sister, Amira, plays forward for the SMU women's basketball team. 

After the Bulls went 14-18 last year, Lanier credits Abdur-Rahim's quick success in Tampa to the culture he built while at Kennesaw State. Several players from that team transferred to South Florida when Abdur-Rahim took the job, creating a roster familiar with the culture and style he wanted to play.  

Both road games present different but difficult challenges for the Mustangs as they look to keep winning and remain in contention for a top spot in the upcoming American Athletic Conference Tournament. 

That's something Lanier isn't focused on or concerned about at this time. Right now, it's all about winning Thursday and then resetting for Sunday. 

"To be honest with you, I know we're on a two-game road swing because we're going to Florida to play both Florida teams, but I'm not sure who or when we play after that and I just don't have the bandwidth to think that far ahead," Laneir said. "But in reality, I think if you take it one game at a time and you continue to focus on improving, getting better each day in practice, the seeding will take care of itself one way or the other."