Tulane men’s basketball (13-5, 4-2) looks to continue its impressive start to the 2014-2015 season when it hosts the Southern Methodist Mustangs (14-4, 5-1) at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Devlin Fieldhouse.

The Wave bounced back from the 103-100 triple overtime loss to Central Florida with a win on Saturday, narrowly escaping Houston 68-65 in Houston, Texas. Sophomore guard Jonathan Stark sunk all four free throws down the stretch for the Green Wave in the final 27 seconds and finished with 15 points for the game. 

While the Wave look to build on its last victory heading into Wednesday’s matchup, the Mustangs look to win its No. 5 game in a row after what has been a difficult couple of weeks for the program.

The Mustangs lost McDonalds All-American Keith Frazier for the remainder of the season due to academic ineligibility on Friday, as well as key reserve forward Justin Martin, who abruptly left the program to pursue a professional career.

Off of the court, Larry Brown’s program received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA on Friday that includes accusations of academic improprieties.

According to ESPN, assistant coach Ulric Miligi’s involvement with Frazier prior to his enrollment at SMU is under investigation. Miligi took an indefinite leave from the team last Tuesday for personal reasons. 

Although academic ineligibilities, key departures, and acknowledgement of the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations are major setbacks for SMU, Tulane basketball head coach Ed Conroy is not taking the Mustangs lightly.

“This is a big week for us and it begins on Wednesday with a very good SMU team,” Conroy said. “Hopefully our fans have noticed what this team has been doing and how hard they have been playing. We need the outstanding support from our fan base to help fill Devlin Fieldhouse and give this team the support moving forward in this difficult league.”