With Nick Russell leading a balanced attack that saw six Mustangs scoring at least eight points, SMU picked up its first Conference USA win of the season, 59-53 over Tulane at Moody Coliseum.
Russell scored 13 for the Mustangs, but his passing also aided greatly, as he had four points and four assists in the last 8:20 of the first half.
That was when the Mustangs went on a 20-5 run to turn a 14-9 deficit into a 29-19 halftime lead.
Russell then led the pace in the second half with nine points, while London Giles and Ryan Manuel each had eight.
SMU was basically able to ride on cruise control from that point on. The Mustangs did allow 47 percent shooting to the Green Wave in the second half but drew 11 of Tulane's 20 turnovers in that same time.
Ricky Tarrant had a game-high 24 for Tulane, including 15 in the second half. But the Green Wave couldn't recover from Tarrant, Josh Davis and Kevin Thomas being the only ones to score in the first half.
Now 1-2 in CUSA, SMU will try to even that record up on Wednesday, hosting Southern Mississippi at Moody.
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