Still mourning his former coach and mentor, SMU coach Larry Brown received a lift from his team Saturday night: a 73-55 rout of defending national champion Connecticut.
Legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith, who gave Brown his start in coaching, died a week ago. Since then, Brown attended Smith's funeral and reflected on Smith's influence on himself and so many others.
"Sunday was tough," Brown said. "A lot of people wanted me to comment about Coach and I didn't know what would be appropriate.
"And then my kids, I got a text from all the players, which was unbelievable."
SMU's players told Brown they wanted to wear black socks to honor Smith in their next game against Houston.
Saturday against UConn, the first home game since Smith's death, SMU's players wore black warmup shirts with "Family" printed in Carolina Blue letters. The gesture clearly moved their 74-year-old coach.
"It was pretty special," said Brown.
Special could also describe No. 25 SMU's performance against UConn. The Mustangs (21-5, 12-2 in the AAC) led by as much as 28 in the second half.
Four SMU players scored in double figures, with none scoring more than 13.
''They have balance," UConn coach Kevin Ollie said. "They have inside and they have the outside, and that really is a luxury for a coach. Every loose ball, every fast break. I mean, look at the stat sheet. They beat us in every category."
UConn broke out to a 10-3 lead in the first four minutes. But SMU, revved up by a crowd of 7,395 — the largest since Moody Coliseum's renovation two seasons ago — eventually began to take over the game.
"We just got together and kept our composure," said guard Sterling Brown, who had 13 points. "We just kept executing, ran our plays. We didn't let that get us riled up, we just stayed with what we do."
UConn (14-10, 7-5) committed nine turnovers in the first half and went into halftime trailing 41-26.
SMU braced for a run by UConn in the second half, but the Huskies shot just 31 percent and committed six more turnovers.
The Mustangs' big men dominated, outscoring UConn 40-20 in the paint. Yanick Moreira led the charge up front with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Markus Kennedy, despite leg cramps, added 13 points and eight boards.
UConn was led by Ryan Boatright's 19 points. Boatright, one of the stars of last season's title run, tried to shoot UConn back into the game with four 3-pointers, but he didn't have much help. The Huskies made just two of 13 shots from 3-point range in the second half.
SMU swept both meetings with UConn last season. Now the Mustangs find themselves ranked and in first place in the American Athletic Conference despite losing two starters for half the season to academic suspension. The Mustangs also lost super-recruit Emmanuel Mudiay to pro ball before the season.
"This team is different," Brown said. "It's different from the one we expected to have, and it's different from the one we started the season. I think we're making progress and that's the most important thing."
Before the game, a moment of silence was held for Smith and Jerry Tarkanian, UNLV's legendary college basketball coach who died in the past week.
"We lost two great coaches that made our game better," said Brown. "But there will never be one like Coach Smith."
Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire
MORE FROM FOX SPORTS SOUTHWEST:
- Five-star recruits who were never stars in college
- Ranking NFL quarterback salaries
- Oldest player on every NBA team
- Highest paid player of each NBA team
