Louisville vs. SMU Prediction, Odds for College Basketball on Tuesday, Feb. 17

The Louisville Cardinals are the No. 21-ranked team in the country, but they're just 8-4 in ACC play. They're looking to string together as many wins as they can to improve their seeding for the upcoming conference tournament, and a win against SMU tonight would go a long way in doing that.

The Mustangs are entering tonight coming off a 79-78 loss to Syracuse, but they can get their conference record back to being above .500 with an upset win tonight.

Let's take a look at the odds and my best bet.

Louisville vs. SMU Odds, Spread, and Total

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

Spread

Louisville -3.5 (-118)
SMU +3.5 (-104)

Moneyline

Louisville -196
SMU +162

Total

OVER 166.5 (-115)
UNDER 166.5 (-105)

Louisville vs. SMU How to Watch

Date: Tuesday, February 17
Game Time: 7:00 pm ET
Venue: Moody Coliseum
How to Watch (TV): ESPN2
Louisville Record: 19-6 (8-4 in ACC)
SMU Record: 17-8 (6-6 in ACC)

Louisville vs. SMU Betting Trends

Louisville is 4-8 ATS in its last 12 games
The UNDER is 10-5 in Louisville's last 15 games
Louisville is 2-6 ATS in its last six road games
SMU is 3-6 ATS in its last nine games
The OVER is 4-1 in SMU's last five games

Louisville vs. SMU Key Player to Watch

Ryan Conwell, G - Louisville Cardinals

Ryan Conwell leads Louisville in scoring, assists, and steals, averaging 18.7 points, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 steals. He's also their primary 3-point shooter, sporting a 3-point field goal percentage of 36%. If Louisville wants to contend in the ACC tournament, they need Conwell to improve his shooting from beyond the arc. He was just 1-of-11 from beyond the arc in Louisville's first game against SMU.

Louisville vs. SMU Prediction and Pick

Both teams have some fantastic shooting numbers this season, but Louisville is the far superior team defensively, ranking 29th in defensive efficiency, while SMU ranks 146th. The Cardinals also rank fourth in the country in 3-point shot rate, with 53% of their shots coming from beyond the arc. Now, they get to face a Mustangs team that's outside the top 100 in opponent 3-point field goal percentage, allowing teams to shoot 32.8% from 3.

Louisville pulled away from SMU in the second half of their first meeting, and a big reason why is that they finished on the right side of the turnover battle, turning the ball over just 11 times compared to SMU at 16. The Cardinals scored 88 points despite only shooting 10-of-35 from beyond the arc. If they can improve on that mark tonight, they may win by even more.

Pick: Louisville -3.5 (-118) via FanDuel

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