DALLAS, Texas - When is a road game more like a home game? When at least 60 percent - perhaps more - of the "home" crowd is cheering for the visitors.

That was the situation Monday night when Texas A&M played at SMU. The crowd of 6,729 was definitely in the maroon color scheme. That was evident in the first half when the Aggies took the lead for good with just over eight minutes remaining. SMU called timeout and the crowd was cheering for the visiting team that was leading 17-13.

"It was a big-time atmosphere," said A&M coach Mark Turgeon, whose team is 2-0. "This was a scary game for me. We wanted to make a good impression for our fans in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and we wanted to get the seniors home."

That would be Donald Sloan (game-high 24 points), Derrick Roland (21) and Bryan Davis (9 points, 6 rebounds before fouling out). All are from the Dallas area and had not played a game in their stomping grounds since high school.

A&M missed its first seven shots against the Mustangs' zone but then heated up. The Aggies' 6-of-15 accuracy from 3-point range forced SMU to switch to man-to-man. A&M made its last six shots of the first half and 14 of its last 24 for a 36-26 halftime lead.

The Aggies made four of their first six shots to start the second half and built a 48-38 lead. "Then we seemed to go on cruise control and let them back in the game," Turgeon said.

SMU cut it to 50-46 and missed a layup. Sloan rebounded and found Roland, whose runner with 8:43 remaining stopped the bleeding.

Roland was particularly celebratory on his homecoming. He scored 11 of A&M's 12 points as the Aggies methodically pulled away. Roland scored 14 of his points over the last 8:43.

"D Ro really stepped it up," said Turgeon, whose team made 19 of its last 23 free throw attempts. "He got out in transition, he got to the foul line. I like how we finished both halves."