The good news: SMU held Cincinnati to just 17 of 64 shooting and just 4 of 21 from 3-point range. The bad? It wasn't enough for a win as Cincinnati's physicality wore down the Mustangs, leading the team to a 52-49 win at Moody Coliseum Wednesday night.

Before the game, Mick Cronin had his Cincinnati Bearcats working on boxing out and getting rebounds. It carried over into the game, as the Bearcats gathered 50 rebounds on the night while SMU had just 35.

21 of Cincinnati's 50 rebounds came on the offensive end, leading to 25 second-chance points. While the Bearcats missed shot after shot, they were able to take advantage of those second-chance opportunities.

Coming off of its biggest loss in school history, SMU hung with the Bearcats in the first half of the game. SMU's zone confused the Bearcats and the team made just one of its first nine shots. But Cincinnati forced the Mustang into long possessions early, and SMU just couldn't take advantage. Its shooters would settle for mid-range jumpers, which would rim out. Sometimes they'd get the ball inside, only for those shots to miss too.

Still, SMU found itself leading by four nine minutes in, but the Bearcats quickly erased that lead with a run, forcing SMU into a 19-14 hole. The Mustangs closed out the half with a 14-3 run that was capped off by a Nat Dixon 3-pointer, which made it 28-22.

Cronin was livid as he walked off of the floor. He told his players that they had to play better defense and they did just that in the second half. SMU failed to score for the half's first 4:35 and continued to struggle for most of its first 10 minutes, seeing its lead slip away at the 11-minute mark.

Jarron Cumberland took over for the Bearcats in the final minutes. He hit a jumper in the pain that made it a 44-37 game and another to make it 46-40. But SMU battled back behind Jahmal McMurray, who like Cumberland, seemed to catch fire in the late stages of the game.

With just over a minute left he shot a three from the left corner that went in, despite the foul. He made the free-throw and suddenly it was a two-point game. But SMU couldn't close out and their hopes for an upset were washed away by a wave of Cincinnati free-throws that effectively put the game out of reach.

McMurray finished the night with 27 points. It was the first time an SMU player has scored 50 percent or more of his team's points since Bryan Hopkins did it against TCU in 2005.

Defensively, the Mustangs played one of their best games of the season. They had 10 blocks, a season-high and the 52 points allowed was the fewest Cincinnati has scored all season.

One notable absence for SMU was Ethan Chargois, who failed to score a point in 33 minutes.

SMU falls to 13-14 with the loss. The team takes on Wichita State Sunday at 1 P.M.