SMU men's basketball is set to make history by playing its first ACC game when Virginia comes to Moody Coliseum.

The Mustangs enter Saturday's 1:15 p.m. contest on a three-game winning streak and are playing some of their best basketball of the season.

"We feel great. We think our team's improved. We understand what it takes to win as a group," first-year coach Andy Enfield said. "We also understand how good Virginia is and how talented and well coached they are. They've been one of the best programs in the ACC the last 10-15 years. So, we know we have our hands full Saturday, but we feel great. We're playing confident basketball and we're playing pretty well."

There were a lot of new pieces at the beginning of the season. With only three players back who played together last year, seven transfers, three freshmen and a new coaching staff, there was a learning curve.

Now, with nine games under their belts and the full roster available, they are figuring some things out.

"From Game 1, we had a bunch of new guys and new coaches and just a new program," senior guard Kario Oquendo said. "I think it's finally starting to get to the point where we're figuring out how to play as a team. Now I think you can see it from game to game, each game realizing that we're getting better, every practice we're getting better at moving the ball. The more games you play together, the most it's going to start stringing together."

Some of that came together even in the last couple of weeks. SMU won the Acrisure Holiday Invitational in Palm Springs, Calif. They won on back-to-back nights in two different ways.

"I thought the tournament in Palm Springs was terrific because we had a really close game the first game and had to grind it out, last possession," Enfield said. "Washington State, we were down at halftime, we missed 14 layups in the first half. And then came out and really defended and won by 17. I think this team is learning how to play together. Once you go through a couple of games where you have to defend and is very intense, you grow from that."

The Mustangs are coming off a 101-72 victory against Alabama State in which seven players scored in double figures. That didn't include the team's leading scorer, Boopie Miller, who averages 15.6 points per game. 

Chuck Harris, B.J. Edwards, Samet Yiğitoğlu and Oquendo all average in double figures with Yohan Traore and Matt Cross not far off. As a team, SMU averages 88.3 points per game and have hit the 100-point mark three times this season.

They face a Virginia team that averages 63 points per game with a high of 74 this season.

"I think we're second or first in the ACC in scoring and we like to push the pace and spread the floor and really try to get a great shot quickly or early in the offense, but take a great shot," Enfield said. "Virginia is more methodical and they play at a slower pace, but are very efficient, very good. There are a lot of ways to win a college basketball game and there will be, probably, two different styles on Saturday."

While it will be SMU's first game in the ACC, that's not the case for some of its players. Miller and Cross have experience in the league while Oquendo has played in the Pac-12 and the SEC while Jerrell Colbert spent time in both the SEC and the Big 12.

They know conference play is a different animal when it comes to these leagues.

"You've got to come in with the same mindset, but it's got to be different because every other game now we're going to play some NBA guys and Duke and North Carolina," Oquendo said. "You have to be ready to go in and the margin for error is very small in those games. Just try to tell the guys that and once we get a couple games in and see how it is, it will be good for us."

It's been that kind of season for the Mustangs, who started the year with three straight wins before losing two of the next three. They are back on track and ready for the challenge the ACC brings night in and night out.

"We're a different team right now than we were early in the season, a better team," Enfield said. "We've improved in a lot of areas. This team still has a big upside. We can still improve. They had never played together, never been under pressure together, never had a close game together until recently. They're starting to learn, figure things out."