SMU's American Athletic Conference opener saw good offense mesh with better defense, which resulted in a comfortable victory Wednesday night.

In a battle of unbeatens, the Mustangs beat East Carolina, 70-55, at Moody Coliseum. It was a game where SMU (5-0, 1-0 AAC) shot 45% from the floor but, more importantly, held East Carolina (5-1, 0-1) to 37% shooting and contained East Carolina's Jayden Gardner, one of the conference's premier players.

Gardner, who averaged 20 points and eight rebounds entering Wednesday, was held to 13 points on 5-for-14 shooting and only four rebounds. He left the game with 5:03 left and didn't return after taking a hard fall and hitting his head.

SMU played for the first time since beating Dayton on Dec. 5, and the offensive rust showed early. East Carolina led, 11-2, at the 14:53 mark, but the Mustangs found their rhythm and fought back throughout the half.

With 9:40 on the clock, Darius McNeill drained a 3-pointer to give SMU its first lead of the game, 16-15. The Mustangs led, 30-28, at the half.

Wednesday was the anticipated debut of SMU's Yor Anei, the 6-10 transfer from Oklahoma State who had his NCAA waiver approved the day of the game. He checked in at the 14:03 mark of the first half and played seven first-half minutes, 13 minutes total.

Anei's presence was felt on the defensive side of the ball. He finished with two points, but it was his three blocked shots that made an impact. Onei was part of the final 35 seconds of the first half that gave SMU momentum. He was credited with a block -- though he literally grabbed the ball out of the air -- and following the play, Kendric Davis scored on an off- balanced jumper, where he was fouled.

SMU played a methodical second half and managed to stretch its lead to as many as 17. Three players finished with double figures in scoring, led by Davis' 17 points.

Davis also had six assists. McNeill scored a season-high 13 points, and Feron Hunt finished with a double-double, 11 points and 10 rebounds, for the Mustangs.

SMU currently doesn't have another game scheduled until Dec. 30, when it travels to Philadelphia to face Temple.