'Desperation' helps SMU rally from 15 points down to avoid upset vs. team with AAC's worst overall record

TNS Southern Methodist's Jarrey Foster (10) and Ben Emelogu II (21) fight for a loose ball against Tulane's Melvin Frazier (35) during the second half at Moody Coliseum in Dallas on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. SMU won, 80-75. (Smiley N. Pool/Dallas Morning News/TNS)SMU's men's basketball team barely said one word, if any, on the way to the locker room during halftime of Wednesday's game against Tulane.

Three days earlier, inside Moody Coliseum, the Mustangs knocked off the best team in the American Athletic Conference. Suddenly, No. 19 SMU was on the verge of losing to Tulane, the worst team in the AAC.

But by the middle of the second half, the groans from home fans turned into cheers. This was…