Jakub Szumert, a freshman forward who played professionally in Poland, finished with 24 points and seven rebounds to lead SMU to an 85-72 victory Monday night over Southern in the season opener for both teams in Dallas.
Szumert, 5 of 6 from the field, made 13 of his 14 free-throw attempts.
The Mustangs made fewer field goals than Southern (26-23) but outscored the Jaguars 32-12 from the free-throw line.
Jermaine O’Neal Jr. had 15 points and Oziyah Sellers finished with 13 for SMU.
Southern did not have a scorer in double figures until R’Chaun King made a layup to reach 10 points with 6:22 left.
The Jaguars had 12 different scorers, led by 12 points from King off the bench. Fellow reserve Daniel Dormu added 10 points.
SMU scored the first nine points of the second half after leading 40-38 at halftime.
Jaden Toombs made two jumpers in the paint in the critical stretch for the Mustangs, who led 49-38 with 17:07 left after the run.
Toombs finished with nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Southern went on a 9-1 run that cut the lead to 52-49 with 13:25 remaining.
Szumert responded with a 3-pointer and two free throws in the next two possessions to increase the lead to 57-49 with 12:29 left.
Szumert scored 11 of SMU’s first 19 points of the second half.
Eight straight points increased SMU’s lead to 67-53 with 9:03 remaining.
Dormu and Armonii Benjamin made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions for Southern, cutting the deficit to 67-59 with 7:08 left.
After a Dormu 3-pointer cut the lead to 70-64 with 5:51 left, O’Neal made a 3-pointer and Szumert a layup to push the lead to double digits again.
Southern kept the game close in the first half with 11 steals and scored 14 points off turnovers.
Southern finished with 17 steals and SMU had 21 turnovers.