The Mustangs got back to their winning ways Saturday night,ending a three-game losing skid.

Using a strong second half performance, SMU defeated visitingSan Jose State 73-58.

Sophomore standout point guard Bryan Hopkins led all scorerswith 17 points and added six assists and six rebounds.

Senior guard Kris Lowe also had a strong performance, scoring14, and igniting the Mustangs to a 24-11 run early in the secondhalf with back-to-back three-pointers that put SMU ahead forgood.

Junior forwards Eric Castro and Patrick Simpson fueled theinside attack netting 14 and 11 respectively.

“Our guys made some shots. We went inside a littlemore,” said SMU head coach Mike Dement.

Dement also noted the Spartans foul trouble and injured forwardDemetrius Brown as factors.

The most impressive stat, though, was SMU’s 56 percentshooting in the second half, while the Spartans shot a sub-par 33percent. SMU’s free throw ratio (20-for-22) also helped sinkSan Jose State.

The win moves the Mustangs to 2-3 in Western Athletic Conferenceplay and 8-7 overall.

San Jose State remains winless in the WAC (0-5) and falls to5-10 overall. The loss is also the Spartans’ seventh loss ina row.

San Jose State, who only trailed by three at halftime, hung inthe game in the first half with a 16-point effort by center EricWalton.

Walton would end up fouling out with 5:13 left in the game.Forward Brett Lilly also added 15 for the Spartans, shooting4-for-8 from behind the three-point stripe.

With the lead, Dement was able to play some reserves thathaven’t seen much action this season.

These reserves responded well to the playing time, especiallysophomore center Donatas Rackauskas, who scored three points, andfreshman Devon Pearson, who put in four.

SMU travels south to Houston to take on the Rice Owls (3-1,11-4) on Tuesday, then return home Saturday for an 2 p.m. tip-offagainst Louisiana Tech (2-4, 8-8).