UNIVERSITY PARK, Texas -- Game 1 in the socially distanced "new normal" of college basketball is in the books, and SMU made a statement on Wednesday. And they did so while missing a few players in the process.

Four players finished in double figures in scoring, and Kendric Davis opened the season with a career night, as SMU dominated Sam Houston State, 97-67, at Moody Coliseum. It was a solid win for an SMU team that only played a nine-man rotation for most of the game.

SMU opened the season without a few players. All-conference guard Tyson Jolly was out for personal matters. Darius McNeill, who transferred from Cal and lost his waiver appeal last year, was out with an apparent wrist injury. Forward Yor Anei, a transfer from Oklahoma State, is still awaiting his status for a waiver.

Wednesday night, none of that mattered. SMU put on a show -- and nearly scored triple digits in doing so. The charge was led by Davis, who finished the game with 33 points on 11-of-15 shooting. He made 8 of 8 from the free throw line, and he also had five assists and four rebounds.

Sam Houston opened the game with a 10-3 lead, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Emmanuel Bandoumel and Davis made the game close again. At the 9:51 mark, Charles Smith IV gave SMU an 18-16 lead with a 3-pointer.

The Mustangs never trailed again after that bucket. In fact, SMU extended its lead to double figures on an Ethan Chargois dunk with 3:30 left in the first half. The Mustangs went into the locker room with a 42-27 halftime lead after Davis made a 3-pointer before the first-half buzzer.

The second half was a scorcher for the Mustangs, as they scored 55 points in the final 20 minutes of play. For the game, SMU outrebounded Sam Houston, 46-26, and even with a short bench, the Mustangs scored 29 bench points to Sam Houston's 12.

Along with Davis' offensive production, William Douglas had 15 points off the bench for the Mustangs. Chargois had 12 points and a team-high six assists, and Smith added 11 points and five boards.

In a losing effort, Zach Nutall finished with 36 points for Sam Houston. He made 12 of 23 shots and drained six 3-pointers.

SMU next will play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.