In the early part of the season, SMU men's basketball coach Tim Jankovich has stressed the importance of effort from start to finish. With a young squad, and with a team still looking for an identity in many ways, Jankovich believes effort can be an X-factor short term.

The Mustangs gave effort all throughout Monday's first road test against Evansville, and they left the Ford Center with a 59-57 win over the Purple Aces. It was a huge win for an SMU team that not only improved to 4-0 on the year but also gave Evansville its first loss.

Let's not forget that this also was an Evansville team that beat previous No. 1 Kentucky on the road last Tuesday.

"The thing I'm most proud of, we won the game on toughness, heart, grit, whatever you want to say," Jankovich said during his interview with SMU Mustangs radio. "That's what won the game. When you're a coach, there's no better win than those."

The 57 points were the fewest SMU has allowed in its first four games. Statistically, SMU put on a defensive show that Jankovich hopes to see for the rest of the season. The Mustangs outrebounded Evansville, 47-25, and held the Purple Aces to only three offensive boards.

Neither team shot the ball very well; Evansville connected on 35% (17 of 48) of its shots, while SMU shot 37% (22 of 59), but it was the second-chance buckets that SMU got -- and the second-chance buckets Evansville didn't get -- that helped seal the road win.

"The very, very, very best wins of the season are when you've got nothing going offensively, and you win," Jankovich said. "When you can go on the road, and you shoot 30% and you win, that is a tremendous, tremendous win.

"Especially against the team that just beat the No. 1 team in the country."

SMU led, 22-14, at the 5:20 mark, as Tyson Jolly scored to cap a 13-0 Mustangs run. The Mustangs led, 25-21, at the halftime break.

From there, Evansville managed to fight back and took a 44-42 lead -- its first since early in the first half -- on free throws by KJ Riley with 7:11 remaining in the contest. The Purple Aces led, 47-44 with less than seven minutes left to play, but SMU took the lead for good on two free throws by Jolly with 4:49 in the game.

In the final minute, SMU grabbed three offensive rebounds to keep the ball on its end of the court.

For the game, Isiaha Mike had 13 of SMU's 47 rebounds, while Feron Hunt had 11. Ethan Chargois, who had been struggling offensively in the first three games, finished with 15 points for the Mustangs.

Jolly matched Chargois' 15 points and added seven rebounds. Mike had a double-double, 11 points and 13 boards. Hunt nearly missed a double-double, finishing with nine points and 11 rebounds. CJ White provided a spark off the bench with seven points and six rebounds.

DeAndre Williams had 13 points and seven rebounds for Evansville. Noah Frederking and Artur Labinowicz each added 12 for the Purple Aces.

SMU next travels west to take on UNLV Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. CT.