After conceding the first five points of the game, the SMU men's basketball team went right to work in Monday's 96-62 win against Tarleton State.

Everything that the Andy Enfield era could be was on full display as the Mustangs answered with a 34-4 run over the next eight and a half minutes. That run included a stretch of 20-straight points scored by the Mustangs.

"I thought we started the game with a lot of energy," Enfield said. "Played very hard, really good on defense. Everybody got in transition, scored the ball, thought our guys played the right way. They shared the ball, they made the right extra pass, and then we hit some shots early, because we were playing the right way."

During the stretch, three different Mustangs hit a 3-point shot and they went 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Defensively, SMU forced five turnovers and allowed no field goals on 10 attempts. 

It was that defensive effort that turned into offense, something the team had been focused on coming out of the preseason.

"I think it was one of our best performances because we were locked in from the start, on defense especially," senior forward Keon Ambrose-Hylton said. "Making sure to know their personnel, being in the gaps, getting rebounds. I think we did a great job of making the game our pace, playing at our pace rather than letting the other team dictate that."

One thing Enfield and the Mustangs had less control over was who was on the court. True freshman Mitchell Holmes was held out as he recovers from an injury and the NCAA had not cleared Samet Yiğitoğlu by tip off. Then, Matt Cross suffered an injury in the first minute and Jerrell Colbert was in foul trouble from the start, fouling out in seven minutes.

That forced SMU to go small.

"We're a work in progress because we have so many new players and they haven't played together, we haven't coached them and we've had some injuries in the preseason," Enfield said. "So I thought (Monday), no matter who was on the court together, we played a lot of different lineups tonight. Played small because some of our bigger guys were injured or out and then foul trouble. So very impressed with how hard we played, especially in the first half."

The Mustangs finished with six players in double figures for the first time since 2015. Boopie Miller led the way with 21 followed by Chuck Harris and Kario Oquendo with 16 each, BJ Edwards with 13, Ambrose-Hylton with 12 and Yohan Traore added 10.

As surprising as that might be to some, it wasn't surprising to the players themselves.

"We've got a pretty deep team," Oquendo said. "We've got a lot of guys that can go out there and play and on any given night it could be my night, Keon's night, Chuck's night, Boopie's night. I think we believe that and we keep playing like that, that's how you've got to play the whole season."

The most memorable might be the two scored by Oquendo though. In the final minutes of the first half, he shed his initial defender and then went up and over the help defender for a one-handed slam. Others had dunks of their own, including two by Ambrose-Hylton, but that one left an impression.

"SportsCenter. SportsCenter," Ambrose-Hylton said of Oquendo's dunk. "That better be on SportsCenter Top 10."

Oquendo also tied for the team lead in rebounds with six, adding two assists in his 26 minutes on the court.

"Well, he had his best week of practice, probably in his career," Enfield said of Oquendo. "We haven't been with him the other three or four years, but I thought and our whole staff thought that he had a tremendous week. He dedicated himself to playing defense. He had four steals tonight. He tried to rebound the ball. He's a very gifted scorer and a terrific athlete, but it's the little things in the game that make a difference with him, and he can affect winning in so many ways, what he did tonight."

But that's what Enfield and his staff have done with the whole roster, bring out their best. Starting from when he was hired and put this roster together, he gave them the tools to improve and play with a confidence that breeds success.

"I think what we've picked up on is that he's giving us a lot of freedom and he's letting us go," Ambrose-Hylton said. "He really wants us to play our game. We can't worry about the little things. I think in our first few games, preseason, we started to lose focus when it came to turnovers and little things like that. Enfield made sure to tell us that he believes in us and the little mistakes don't matter, he just wants us to play hard."

While Enfield might give them the tools to build up confidence, it's up to the players to go to work. That's what he's seen from this team so far, especially Harris, Edwards and Ambrose-Hylton returning from last season.

"They've all improved at a high level this offseason," Enfield said of the trio. "They spent a lot of time in the gym by themselves, with each other, with the coaches when we were able to, and then in the preseason. So their work ethic has helped them become very good basketball players. Their confidence is derived from their work ethic. They do it over and over every single day. 

"You can't, as a coach, just come and say, 'Hey, be more confident.' It doesn't work. It may make them feel good that you believe in them, but they still have to have that internal confidence and all three of those guys have that."

It was a small sample size, just 40 minutes, and some pieces were missing, but Monday's win showed what this Mustangs team can look like under Enfield this season. The Mustangs got 36 points from its bench, 38 points in the paint, 30 off turnovers and 28 on the fast break. 

"I would say we played pretty hard (Monday)," Oquendo said. "I think that's been our team's, I guess you could say, new identity over the last week or two. We've been trying to really emphasize playing hard and, whoever you're playing, just come out and play hard every day. I think we played pretty good and pretty hard today."

"Well, it's work in progress. We don't know what our best lineups are yet," Enfield said. "I thought everybody went into I always said, 'Just go play hard and make mistakes.' We play through mistakes. We don't take you out, take a player out because of a mistake, as long as we're playing the right way and playing hard."

The Mustangs have already shown what they can do from one game to the next, albeit a preseason exhibition to the season opener. Now they are trying to keep that going with the regular season here.

"Our first couple exhibitions didn't go how we wanted them to go," Oquendo said. "I think (Monday), we learned from those things and made sure that we were going to come out and play as hard as we could. I think everybody left it all on the floor."