The crowd noise inside Moody Coliseum swelled as No. 25 SMU found the right time to unleash the pressure needed to stop the American Athletic Conference's top team.

Midway through the second half, the Mustangs started to buckle down against No. 11 Cincinnati, the only team to beat SMU during conference play. With each successive defensive stop and ensuing basket, SMU's lead grew. It became apparent that the Mustangs were on their way to taking the top spot in conference standings.

SMU topped the Bearcats 60-51 and showed it might have the team and defense required to win the AAC and earn a decent NCAA tournament seed. In the win that pushed the Mustangs (22-4, 12-1 AAC) a half-game ahead of Cincinnati (22-3, 11-1 AAC), SMU coach Tim Jankovich said his team played a stretch with its best defense of the season.

"For me, it was fantastic," Jankovich said.

After Cincinnati scored 12 straight points and took a nine-point lead early in the second half, SMU used its defense to go on a 15-0 run that ended up making the difference in the game.

Early on, the Bearcats were able to drive to the basket and create spaces for open 3-pointers. That changed in the final 20 minutes. Cincinnati only shot 25.9 percent in the second half.

"Keeping them out of the paint was a big key for us," said SMU sophomore guard Shake Milton, who finished with 11 points. "Taking the challenge individually and knowing you would have help behind you, that was probably it."

As SMU kept getting stops and building its lead, the crowd of 7,518 that included Cowboys QB Tony Romo and former President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush became louder. SMU offense started to make a little more noise, too.

Junior guard Ben Emelogu II scored nine of his 11 points in the second half. Seven of those came on the Mustangs' 15-point run. His production, along with a game-high 18 points from junior forward Semi Ojeleye, was instrumental for an SMU team that was shorthanded and was behind for almost the entire first half.

But in the second half, SMU's six-man rotation was able to play more aggressively. That strategy switch helped the Mustangs pick up their first win this season over a ranked opponent.

Against the conference's top team, that defense powered SMU to the top of the AAC standings as the team tries to close out the final five games of the regular season.

"That's the toughest period of the year, and we're right in the middle of it," Jankovich said. "But it does feel darn good to finally, finally be in this position."

And after Sunday's win, SMU is feeling as good as it has all season.

"Our heads are high," Emolugu II said. "We're feeling very confident. We're feeling unbeatable."

Twitter: @Ben_Baby

Second-half defense

Here's a look at how SMU shut down No. 11 Cincinnati in the first 20 minutes vs. the final 20 minutes on Sunday: