UNIVERSITY PARK -- The SMU men's basketball team had a first six minutes to remember, a next 14 minutes to forget, and a final 20 minutes that tested its mettle against UCF.

As the second-half buzzer sounded, the Mustangs got what they wanted -- a hard-fought win and another notch in the American Athletic Conference. SMU left Moody Coliseum with an 81-74 win over UCF and remained undefeated in AAC play.

The Mustangs earned their fourth consecutive win overall and improved to 12-2 for the season and 2-0 in conference play. It was a hard-fought victory for an SMU team that looked like it would run away with an easy victory at first, only to struggle entering the second half and and some of the final 20 minutes.

But when the smoke settle, SMU kept UCF winless in AAC play. SMU opened the game with a 13-0 lead with the help of a trio of 3-pointers by Isiaha Mike, Kendric Davis and Ethan Chargois. UCF, however, methodically battled back to tie the game at 25 and then briefly take a 27-25 lead on a Matt Milon layup.

But SMU managed to regain a small lead after that and never relinquish it. The Mustangs led, 35-29, at haltime, then managed to keep the lead throughout the second half. UCF got within one at the 11:57 mark on a Milon 3-pointer, but the Mustangs went on a 11-2 run in a four-minute span to pull away just enough.

The final four minutes of the game was more of the teams trading buckets, which was in favor of the Mustangs. Four SMU players finished with double figures in scoring. Davis finished with 22 points and seven assists.

Feron Hunt had a season-high 20 points and added seven rebounds. Mike and Chargois each had 11 points and combined 12 rebounds.

UCF had three players -- Milon, Collin Smith and Ceasar DeJesus -- finish with 19 points. SMU next will travel east to take on East Carolina. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. CT.