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By Andy Lohman

After cold shooting contributed to a tough loss at UConn, SMU responded in a big way by draining a season-high 13 three-pointers in an emphatic 77-57 win over Tulsa on Saturday evening inside Moody Coliseum.

Several of those threes came at crucial moments that stymied any momentum Tulsa put together, or put the exclamation point on long SMU runs. Possibly the biggest of the night came from sophomore forward Ethan Chargois.

With Tulsa on a 5-0 run to start the second half, cutting the SMU lead to six points, Chargois dove for a loose ball on the offensive end, then got up and knocked down a corner three that pushed the Mustang advantage to 41-32. The Golden Hurricane did not get within six points again.

"Chargois' three in the second half was a back breaker. That one was a tough one," Tulsa head coach Frank Haith said. "Ethan presents a problem because he's a five and he can shoot. When he's out there, basically they have five guys that can step out on the perimeter."

Chargois, whose hometown is Tulsa, Oklahoma, finished with 18 points. A dynamic threat, he drained three three-pointers, but also finished down low and knocked down three of his four free throws.

"I kind of felt like I owed them from last year," Chargois said. "I feel like I really didn't play well personally, we lost last year at Tulsa and this is our only game against them this year. I had to get the win for sure."

Senior guard Jahmal McMurray, who struggled from beyond the arc against the Huskies (1-of-9), exploded for 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from three-point range. The elusive shooting guard was sporting a white headband for the first time this season.

"Probably," Chargois and senior guard Jarrey Foster both said, laughing, when asked if the headband was what got McMurray going.

"Jahmal is Jahmal," Foster said. "A shooting slump is nothing to him."

While Chargois' second-half three was the back-breaker, it was McMurray's threes throughout the evening that kept Tulsa at bay. McMurray and Foster hit big threes back-to-back to break a 4-4 tie early in the first half. Then, right after the under-12 media timeout, McMurray and sophomore forward Isiaha Mike hit threes within 30 seconds of each other to give SMU a double-digit lead.

In the second half, he hit threes from the wing on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to 51-37, then hit a dagger with just over eight minutes left to make it 66-49, forcing Haith to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, junior guard Jimmy Whitt Jr. stole a bad pass and threw down a one-handed dunk on the fast break, effectively sealing the game.

Whitt had 10 points and 10 rebounds, his third straight game and fifth game this season with a double-double.

While the hot shooting provided an advantage, head coach Tim Jankovich was pleased with the way SMU rebounded and responded after a tough loss two days earlier. The Mustangs have had a +15 rebounding margin the last two games.

"We just rebounded so hard," Jankovich said. "Whenever you're coaching a team and you rebound like that, that means you're playing really really hard. They don't bounce to you; you have to go chase them down."

"I think it tells you a lot about what they're about," Jankovich said of his team bouncing back with a win. "I'm very proud of our team. I thought the effort, energy, concentration was terrific in all areas and I thought we shared the ball as well as we maybe have all year. That's just what we've got to do to be an outstanding team."