HOUSTON (AP) -- Devonta Pollard scored 23 points and Damyean Dotson added 13 as Houston rallied for a 71-68 victory over No. 12 SMU on Monday night, just the second loss of the season for the Mustangs.

Pollard and Dotson keyed a 21-4 run midway through the second half for the Cougars (16-6, 6-4 American), which defeated a ranked team for the first time since beating No. 25 SMU in February 2014. The win was the first over a team ranked this high or higher since beating No. 3 Memphis in January 1996.

Nic Moore had 16 points for SMU (19-2, 8-2), which has lost two of its last three. Ben Moore scored 12 points and Markus Kennedy had 12 points and nine rebounds.

The Mustangs shot 8 of 27 in the second half and finished shooting 40 percent, compared to Houston's 55 percent in the second half and 46 percent for the game.

After Houston pushed its lead to eight points, Nic Moore scored five straight points and Ben Moore cut the lead to 66-65 with two free throws with 2 minutes left. Following a free throw by Galen Robinson, Jr., Nic Moore and Dotson traded missed shots, and Kennedy was called for an offensive foul with 59 seconds left.

Pollard made two free throws with 46 seconds left to push the lead to 69-65, and Nic Moore's 3-pointer was blocked by Robinson. Bertrand Nkali made a free throw with 26 seconds left, but Nic Moore hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining to cut the lead to two.

Wes VanBeck hit one free throw with 14 seconds left, and Jordan Tolbert's 3-point attempt missed and Shake Milton could not get a 3-point attempt off in time.

Trailing 49-38 with just under 16 minutes remaining, Houston responded with the 21-4 run over the next 8 minutes led by nine points from Pollard and seven from Dotson. LeRon Barnes and Pollard capped the run with consecutive 3-pointers to give the Cougars their largest lead of the game, 59-53. The Mustangs went 1 of 11 from the field during the run and went 6:07 without scoring.

SMU opened the second half with an 8-2 spurt to open up a 47-36 lead on a 3-pointer by Milton with 17:26 remaining.

Milton added 10 points and Jarrey Foster had nine. SMU shot 13 of 25 from the field in the first half. The Mustangs hit on 20 of 23 from the free throw line.

SMU is back in action Sunday, Feb. 7 when the Mustangs travel to Tampa, Fla. to take on USF. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. CT and the game will be aired on CBS Sports Network.