Southern Methodist 70, Rutgers 56: Markus Kennedy recorded 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks as the host Mustangs pulled away from the Scarlet Knights in an American Athletic Conference clash.

Ben Moore added 12 points and five rebounds off the bench for SMU (15-4, 4-2 AAC), which has won four consecutive games. Nic Moore chipped in with eight points to go along with five assists for the Mustangs, who equaled their win total from last season.

J.J. Moore scored 15 points to lead the way for Rutgers, (8-11, 2-4), which shot 32.7 percent from the field. Myles Mack chipped in with 13 points and five assists, while Wally Judge grabbed nine rebounds for the Scarlet Knights, who have lost four of their last five games.

Rutgers missed 14 of its first 15 shots as the Scarlet Knights were fortunate to find themselves trailing only 15-6 midway through the first half. SMU, which was playing its third game in four nights, started to pull away as Ben Moore keyed an 11-2 run to stretch the lead to 12 and the Mustangs took a 36-25 advantage into the break.

Rutgers refused to go away as Kadeem Jack trimmed the deficit to eight with over 13 minutes remaining before Keith Frazier sparked an 11-2 spurt to put SMU on top 56-39. The Mustangs did not let their lead slip below double digits the rest of the way as they won the first ever meeting between the two schools.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Southern Methodist has held 16 of its 19 opponents to under 40 percent shooting. … Kennedy has notched three double-doubles in his last four games. … Rutgers started off 2-of-10 from 3-point range before finishing 5-of-17.