South Alabama beats Southern Mississippi 78-55
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) Georgi Boyanov scored 23 points, Shaq Calhoun set career highs with 21 points and 5 of 8 3-pointers, and South Alabama used a big second half to pull away from Southern Mississippi 78-55 on Wednesday night.
Calhoun's 3-pointer put South Alabama up 5-4 and the Jaguars led 37-32 at halftime after he made two free throws.
Don MuepoKelly's dunk capped a 12-0 run and the Jaguars led 57-37 in the second half. Josh Ajayi's jumper sparked a 12-5 run and South Alabama led 76-55 after Ken Williams' layup with 1:56 left to play.
The Jaguars (6-1) shot 11 of 27 from beyond the arc (40.7 percent) and 43.5 percent from the floor (27 of 62), but turned the ball over 19 times.
MuepoKelly scored 10 points and blocked two shots.
Cortez Edwards scored a career-high 15 points, Tim Rowe added 12 and Quinton Campbell had 10 for the Golden Eagles (3-2). Eddie Davis III grabbed 10 rebounds.
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Hollowell hits 6 3s, Georgia State beats Wright State 81-74
ATLANTA (AP) — Jeremy Hollowell made a career-high six 3-pointers and scored 22 points, Isaiah Williams added three 3s and 19 points, and Georgia State beat Wright State 81-74 on Wednesday night.
Hollowell scored 20-plus for the third time this season and finished 8 of 14 from the field, including 6 of 11 from distance. He and Williams combined for nine of Georgia State's 11 3-pointers.
Wright State trailed by as many as 24 in the second half, but cut it to five with just over a minute to play. But Williams answered with a jumper and he made two free throws on Georgia State's next possession for a nine-point lead.
Georgia State (4-2) made just 18 of 30 free-throw attempts.
Grant Benzinger led Wright State (6-2) with 32 points and eight rebounds. He was 9 of 18 from the field, including 6 of 12 from 3-point range. Mark Alstork added 19 points and eight rebounds.
Both head coaches went barefoot to raise awareness for Samaritan's Feet.
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Arkansas State cruises by Cleveland State 78-51
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) Tamas Bruce scored 16 points, Deven Simms added 15 points, and Arkansas State beat Cleveland State 78-51 on Wednesday night for its seventh straight victory.
Arkansas State went on an early 13-2 run to build a 16-9 lead and the Red Wolves closed the half on a 9-0 spurt to extend their lead to 32-17. In the second half, the Red Wolves went up 51-29 for their seventh game this season with a 20-point lead.
Donte Thomas added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists for Arkansas State (7-1), which plays undefeated TCU (7-0) on Saturday.
Thomas had his 200th career assist in the first half when he found C.J. Foster for a 3-pointer. Thomas is the 13th player in program history to reach the mark.
Demonte Flannigan led Cleveland State (1-5) with 14 points and six rebounds. The Vikings committed 23 turnovers and shot just 39 percent from the field.
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Coastal Carolina rolls past Methodist University 88-59
CONWAY, S.C. (AP) Demario Beck scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Coastal Carolina rolled to an 88-59 victory over Division III Methodist University on Wednesday night.
Beck was 8 of 12 from the field. Elijah Wilson had 16 points and made four 3-pointers for Coastal Carolina (3-5). Beck has 1,502 career points, fifth all-time in the program.
Jaylen Shaw added 13 points and six assists for the Chanticleers, who made 11 of 31 3-point shots, and had a season-high 18 assists on 32 field goals. Coastal Carolina outrebounded Methodist 50-33, and snapped a two-game skid.
Davion Ayabarreno scored 13 points to lead Methodist, which shot just 13 percent from 3-point range on 3-of-23 shooting.
The Chanticleers jumped out to a 33-9 lead midway through the first half and built a 49-20 halftime lead. Coastal Carolina stretched it to 70-39 with 7:47 remaining.