By Alex Riley
Special contributor to SMUMustangs.com

SMU (4-0) at UNLV (2-4) | Gameday Central 
Thomas & Mack Center – Las Vegas, Nevada
November 23, 2019 – 9:30 pm CT / 7:30 pm PT
TV: Stadium/Facebook | Radio: KAAM 770 AM | TuneIn App |  Live Stats

DALLAS – His clothes were soaked after being doused upon entering the locker room, yet SMU men's basketball coach Tim Jankovich couldn't help but smile. As he sat at the media table for a postgame radio interview following the Mustangs 59-57 win at Evansville, Jankovich was shivering but pleased.

A road win over a team that days earlier had knocked off then-No. 1 Kentucky was a good reason to be excited. But it was the manner in which SMU accomplished the feat that had Jankovich pleased.

"How can you get upset as a coach when you hold the other team to 35 percent, they get three offensive rebounds, you get 17 offensive rebounds, you play all on grit and so what if your offense didn't look pretty," Jankovich said in the interview. "I will take those kinds of guys any day of the week over people that are going to bank on shots going in every night."

SMU's 4-0 start has been keyed by the team's cohesiveness on defense, something the Mustangs hope to continue when they travel to UNLV on Saturday.

In four outings, they have held every opponent to 65 points or less. Along the way, the Mustangs have kept their last three foes to under 40 percent shooting from the field and under 28 percent shooting from 3-point range.

Additionally, SMU has managed to create extra possessions through offensive rebounding. The team leads The American and ranks sixth nationally by getting back 39.1 percent of its own misses. The 13.5 offensive rebounds per game ranks 51st nationally. So far, those 54 offensive caroms have resulted in 57 second chance points. That's 19.7 percent of the team's total scoring thus far.

"I honestly didn't know the numbers, but I honestly don't think we're at our best defensively yet. I think there's a lot of room for us to improve," junior guard Tyson Jolly said. "I think we've done a lot of great things, but we're still learning. We're still a work in progress. I feel like we haven't reached the peak defensively that we're going to be at."

Considering SMU's youth – seven first-year players and only three returners with starting experience – it's easy to understand Jolly's optimistic outlook on what lies ahead. This group has played just 160 minutes of competitive basketball together so far. It's a small sample size with positive early results.

Saturday's trip to UNLV will be the next opportunity to keep constructing that foundation. The Rebels (2-4) are averaging just 66.7 points per game, but are shooting 43.6 percent from the floor.

While UNLV might have gotten off to a tough start on paper, no one expects the contest to be easy. SMU is certainly excited for the challenge.

"Playing on the road, back-to-back road games, it's going to test our toughness. It's going to test our togetherness," Jolly said. "We're going to see how well we can stay together, fight and try to come out with another win in a tough environment."