SMU stunned No. 17 Connecticut 74-65 before an overflow crowd in the debut of the refurbished Moody Coliseum.
Nic Moore scored 19 of his game-high 20 points in the first half, and Nick Russell picked up the slack by adding with 11 of his 14 points in the second half for SMU (11-3, 1-1).
UConn (11-3, 0-2) headed home following a trip that began with a four-point loss to new AAC-member Houston on New Year's Eve.