Wednesday night's comeback attempt for the SMU basketball team fell short. And with that, the opportunity for a first-round bye in the American Athletic Conference Tournament is no more.

SMU fell, 61-58, to UCF in a game that saw the Mustangs battle back from 22 points down. It was a game where SMU (19-10, 9-8 in the AAC) literally spotted UCF (15-14, 6-11) the first 19 points of the game.

And while the Mustangs rallied -- and took the lead for a short time in the second half -- the end result was a conference loss that officially eliminated them from a potential fourth-place finish in the AAC standings. SMU needed to win out and have Wichita State lose its final two games to earn fourth place; the top four teams earn first-round byes in next week's AAC Tournament in Fort Worth.

Offensively, the first half was horrendous for SMU, as the AAC's top-ranked scoring offense was held to 14 points. The Mustangs missed their first eight shots and opened with four turnovers in the first nine-plus minutes. Meanwhile, UCF built a 19-0 lead and held the Mustangs scoreless until the 11:08 mark, when Emmanuel Bandoumel scored on a putback off a missed 3-pointer by CJ White.

There was a time when SMU trailed, 28-6. SMU went into the locker room down, 33-14, at halftime. After starting 3-for-18 from the field, committing eight turnovers and trailing as many as 22, the Mustangs fought back in the second half, hitting the first seven points of the half and then trimming the UCF lead within single digits with 12:29 left to play.

With 6:11 remaining, SMU took the lead, 49-48, on an Isiaha Mike slam off a pass from Kendric Davis. It was SMU's first lead of the game.

SMU led, 58-56, with 1:47 left to play, but UCF -- which didn't score a field goal in the game's final 3:54 -- sank five free throws in the final 90 seconds. SMU didn't score in the game's final 1:47. Tyson Jolly attempted a last-second 3-pointer to tie the game, but the shot missed.

Jolly had 14 points, and Davis had 13 points and seven assists in the loss. Mike added 13 points, and Feron Hunt had 10 points and seven rebounds. Collectively, SMU made all 16 of its free throw attempts.

Collin Smith led UCF with 19 points and seven rebounds. He made 9 of 11 free throws for the night, including 5 of 6 in the final minutes of the game. Darin Green Jr. had 13 points, and Brandon Mahan added 12 for the Knights.

SMU has one more regular-season game left, a road contest at South Florida on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET in Tampa, Florida.