SMU beat a ranked team for the second time this season when the team upset No. 22 Memphis at Moody Coliseum Saturday afternoon 87-72.

The team was tied 29-29 at the half before SMU exploded in the second half, building a 25-point lead at one point with Nic Moore and Markus Kennedy recording double-doubles and energizing the team and the soldout Moody.

“We just talked about trying to match their energy,” Coach Larry Brown said. “Our goal was to see how we stacked up against a quality team and tonight we were a quality team.”

The win over Memphis made it the first time since 1984-85 season that SMU has beaten two ranked teams in the same season and it’s also the first time since that season that Moody has sold out multiple times. SMU is 2-1 against ranked opponents this season.

“Students are amazing. I was a little ticked at the season ticket holders left early,” Brown said. “The atmosphere in this building has been phenomenal since day one. I don’t think we beat Connecticut or Memphis without this environment.”

SMU is still undefeated at home, going 11-0 to open the new Moody. The atmosphere was electric and that was a big reason why SMU was able to come out in the second half and dominate.

Nic Moore and Kennedy were huge for the Ponies, adding 14 points and 21 point respectively. Moore had 10 assists and Kennedy had 15 rebounds for SMU.

A big surprise was freshmen Sterling Brown, Ben Moore and Keith Frazier, who combined for 25 of their 31 points in the second half.

“I don’t think of [Keith, Ben and Sterling] as freshmen but then I’ll go watch the tape and say, ‘What type of shot was that?'” Brown said.

SMU will definitely need those freshmen to continue their high level of play. With Yanick Moreira inching closer to coming back, SMU has a lot of momentum going into Thursday’s matchup against Temple and Saturday’s matchup against ranked team Cincinnati. Both games will be held in Moody Coliseum.