Brian Epps guards the ball during SMU’s win over Tulane 55-53 on Wednesday night’s game. (James Bilowus)

The Tulane Green Wave was sitting on its largest lead of the game with 14:30 left in regulation.

That’s when the Mustangs came roaring back.

That was when Ike Ofoegbu took control.

Ofoegbu scored eight of the Mustangs’ next 10 points as Tulane’s 13-point lead was cut to 8. A subsuquent 7-0 run for SMU saw the Tulane lead shrink to three.

And it was the 8-0 run to end the game that gave the Mustangs their first win in Conference USA, 55-53. SMU was able to get the win without the third leading scorer and starting shooting guard Derrick Roberts.

Roberts, who tweaked his knee in last Saturday’s game against UTEP, got an MRI that showed a bone contusion that will put him out of the Mustang lineup for seven days.

Without Roberts, Dez Willingham got his second start of the season and scored six points in 30 minutes – including a floater that brought the Mustangs to within four with five minutes left in the game.

Ofoegbu showed why head coach Matt Doherty has so much confidence in him. With just five points in the first half, Ofoegbu had an offensive explosion in the second period. He had 14 second-half points and added two key steals late in the game.

“We like him to get the ball,” said Doherty, “and he gets fouled and he’s making his foul shots.”

Ofoegbu went 7-9 from the free throw line, and 6-7 in the second half.

Teammate Jon Killen said, “[Ofoegbu] has to understand how good he can be.”

Ofoegbu is beginning to realize that for himself.

“Sometimes I see myself just watching the play,” said Ofoegbu, “I need to ask for the ball and be more aggressive.”

But what may have turned the game around the most was an exorcism performed by Doherty.

“I called timeout, and I laughed and I smiled, and I went to each one of them, grabbed their foreheads and asked the demons to come out.”

The Mustangs continued to struggle making shots late in the game. The last SMU field goal was made with 5:33 left in the game. The difference last night was that SMU was getting to the free throw line and scoring points from there. Bamba Fall was 4-4 from the line in the final four minutes and Ofoegbu was 4-4 in the last 3:30.

SMU was also able to hold onto the ball better than they have in previous games, turning the ball over only 12 times compared to 14 against Tulane. Additionally, the Mustangs only allowed 11 points scored from the 12 turnovers, an improvement from the 28 scored by UTEP on Saturday.

Killen was second on the team in scoring, putting up 12 points and joined Devon Pearson and Ofoegbu with a team-high seven rebounds, a career mark for Killen. It was Killen’s basket while getting fouled and the following free throw that came at the end of the 7-0 run that got the crowd into the game and showed that the Mustangs were going to make a final push.

After coming close against UTEP and Southern Miss, the Mustangs finally got a win.

“Tonight we fought through to the end,” said Killen.

The Mustangs hope the win carries over into a tough three game road trip. But SMU doesn’t look at this as an impossible task.

“We know that we can compete with anyone in the league,” said Killen.

SMU’s Jon Killen runs up court against Tulane’s Andrew Garcia during Wednesday’s game in Moody Coliseum. (James Bilowus)