UT Arlington beats UC Irvine 70-62
IRVINE, Calif. (AP) Drew Charles scored 10 of his career-high 15 points in the final 4:02 and Kevin Hervey added 15 more to lead UT Arlington past UC Irvine 70-62 Saturday night.
Charles was 4 of 4 from the field, including three 3-pointers, and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.
Luke Nelson's 3-pointer gave UC Irvine (4-4) a 57-53 lead with about 6 minutes to play.
Charles scored eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, during a 12-3 run that gave UT Arlington (5-4) a 66-60 lead with 31 seconds left.
A pair of Jaron Martin free throws 8 seconds later made it 66-62, but Greg Gainey and Charles made two free throws apiece to seal it.
UC Irvine's Mamadou Ndiaye, the team's leading scorer (12 per game) and shot blocker (two per game) missed his third consecutive game with a foot injury.
Alex Young had a career-high six steals for the Anteaters.
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Louisiana Lafayette rolls past Division III Centenary 115-59
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) Shawn Long scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds as UL Lafayette rolled to a 115-59 win over Division III Centenary on Saturday.
Devonta Walker added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Ragin' Cajuns (5-4). Kasey Shepherd had 11 points and four assists. The team, which had 11 players score, did it with consistently accurate shooting from all over the court, hitting 59.5 percent from the field overall, 52.4 percent from the line and 61.5 percent from beyond the arc. The also outrebounded their opponents 47-36 and had 13 team steals.
UL Lafayette jumped to a 35-8 lead early and led 64-28 at the break. In the second half, the Ragin' Cajuns continued to dominate the field and the boards, outscoring Centenary 51-31 for the win.
James Sapp led the Gentlemen with 12 points and Caden Cheramie added 10.
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Defense propels No. 8 Texas over Texas State 59-27
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) As usual for the Texas Longhorns, a smothering defense can solve a lot of problems. Especially with the kind of effort that turns back the pages of the school record book not just by years, but by decades.
Cam Ridley scored 14 points and No. 8 Texas shook off another sputtering night offensively with overwhelming defense to beat Texas State 59-27 on Saturday night.
Texas allowed its fewest points since 1945 and gave up just nine points in the first half, the fewest allowed by the Longhorns in at least 65 years.
''We were absolutely awful on offense,'' Longhorns coach Rick Barnes said. ''As a coaching staff, we emphasize in games like this that we defend really hard. We did do that.''
The Longhorns played their first game since a rugged matchup with No. 1 Kentucky a week earlier when they lost for the only time this season.
Texas held the Bobcats to just 22 percent shooting, including a first half in which Texas State was just 4 of 25 and didn't have an assist. Javan Felix scored 10 points for Texas (8-1) and the Longhorns closed the first half with a 13-2 run that put the game out of reach.
Texas State's 27 total points tied the mark for fewest allowed by Texas since a 34-27 win over Southeast Oklahoma Teacher's College in December 1945.
Cameron Naylor had eight points for Texas State (5-2).
''Our game plan was not to let them score a lot of points, but our game plan was certainly to score more than 27,'' Texas State coach Danny Kaspar said. ''I have no explanation for some of the poor shooting other than guys (were) intimidated by the height they saw.''
Ridley agreed Texas State seemed unnerved by the Longhorns' size in a lineup built for the Big 12. The Bobcats play in the Sun Belt Conference and were facing their only opponent of the season from a major conference.
''If I was on a smaller team, I'd be intimidated to look at a lineup with four guys over 6-foot-8,'' Ridley said. ''Teams can't get to the basket like they want due to our shot-blocking abilities.''
Texas matched their season average with six blocks.
But Texas will eventually have to find an answer for their recent offensive struggles. The Longhorns haven't scored more than 63 in their last four games and still miss starting point guard Isaiah Taylor, who is out indefinitely with a broken left wrist.
Over the first seven minutes, the Longhorns had more turnovers (5) than baskets (3) and Barnes was impatient with mistakes, quickly sending players to the bench after bad shots or dropped passes.
The Longhorns did make 5 of 9 3-pointers in the first half, getting two each from Felix and DeMarcus Holland. Felix's second with 4 seconds left in the half gave Texas a 24-9 lead.
At that point, Texas State had no chance to threaten the Texas lead. Jonathan Holmes made a 3-pointer early in the second and Ridley followed with a 3-point play that made it 32-11.
Ridley scored 13 in the second half as the Longhorns found their shooting touch, making 13 of their first 20 shots to stretch the lead to 52-23 with just about six minutes to play.
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SHORT ROAD TRIP: As the map goes, the two campuses are only about 30 miles apart. Basketball-wise, the distance between the two programs could divide a continent. In a long but sporadic series, Texas has won 26 in a row over the Bobcats, who haven't beaten Texas since 1937.
TIP-INS
Texas has outrebounded every opponent - including No. 1 Kentucky last week. The Longhorns dominated the boards against the Bobcats 45-21.
Texas State came in ranked No. 6 in the nation in steals per game at 10.8. They forced 10 by halftime against Texas and finished with 19.
UP NEXT
Texas hosts Lipscomb on Tuesday
Texas State plays at Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday
(A previous version of story incorrectly listed Texas' opponent total as lowest since 1946 instead of 1945.)
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New Mexico beats UL Monroe 54-46
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) One or even two games might be a seen as a fluke, but for a third-straight outing, New Mexico unleashed a smothering defensive effort that has limited its opponents to under 50 points.
UL Monroe was the latest victim of the Lobos' voracious appetite for defense in New Mexico's 54-46 victory Saturday night.
''New Mexico is very good defensively,'' Warhawks coach Keith Richard said. ''They're big, long and physical. They protect their basket very, very well. All those things we knew coming in.''
But that knowledge went for naught as the Lobos (6-3) stifled UL Monroe, holding it to 29 percent shooting overall and less than 16 percent on 3-pointers.
''We've done a really good job of doing what we want to defensively,'' New Mexico Craig Neal said.
The Lobos didn't exactly light it up offensively, but Deshawn Delaney shook off a slow start to finish with 15 points - giving him 54 over his last three games. He was the only player for either team in double figures. Nick Coppola had nine to lead the Warhawks (4-4).
Although New Mexico struggled to hit it shots as well, it pounded the glass, finishing with 20 offensive boards among its 45 rebounds.
''If we can continue to rebound like that, continue to get 20 offensive rebounds, we'll be a tough team to beat,'' Neal said. But ''there's a reason for that many rebounds, when you miss as many shots as we did.
And when you go 4 for 20 (on 3-pointers), there's going to be a lot of long rebounds that we can chase down.''
The boards were a critical part of the game, Richard said.
''They're offensive rebounding obviously was an issue for us,'' he said.
''I told Craig after the game, if they rebound like that, night in and night out, that's going to win them some games when they don't have the offense.''
It was the defense, however, that proved to be the difference, Richard said.
''It's size and scheme,'' he said. ''They are protecting the basket. They are keeping the ball in front of themselves. There's not a lot of cracks and creases to get in there. And then when you do get in there, they can block some shots. And their guards can block shots as well.
It's the right scheme to play for that group. I don't think they're super quick but they can cover from the 3-point line pretty well.''
Still, New Mexico trailed for much of the first half before Hugh Greenwood hit consecutive 3-pointers to start a Lobos' 14-3 run to close the half, putting them up 26-19 at the break.
UL Monroe scored the first four points of the second half, but the Lobos responded with a 13-2 run sparked by six points from Delaney and five from Xavier Adams to go up 39-25.
After falling behind 48-31 with 8:12 left, the Warhawks scored 11 straight to pull within 48-42. Delaney ended the Lobos' five-minute scoring drought with a pull-up 14-footer, and the Lobos were able to push the lead back out thereafter.
TIP-INS
New Mexico: Greenwood, the senior point guard, continued to wear out the court. He has logged at least 33 minutes every game this season.
UL Monroe: The Warhawks have never beaten a Mountain West team.
UP NEXT
New Mexico plays host to Central Arkansas on Wednesday night.
UL Monroe is at home against Central Baptist on Tuesday night.
INJURIES
New Mexico reserve guard Sam Logwood was injured early in the second half. After a trip to the trainer's room, he returned to the bench with his left arm in a sling. He finished with five points.
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Toledo beats Arkansas State with 2 late 3s, 73-65
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) Julius Brown drilled 3-pointers on consecutive possessions with less than 2 minutes left to lift Toledo over Arkansas State 73-65 on Saturday.
The game was tied with 1:54 left when Brown hit the first of two treys to go up 68-65. Just 41 seconds later, it was a six-point advantage. Arkansas State didn't score again.
Brown led Toledo (5-4) with 15 points. Justin Drummond had 13 while Jonathan Williams and J.D. Weatherspoon added 12 apiece.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Cameron Golden and Daijon Macklien put Arkansas State (2-4) up by 10 midway through the first, but Toledo's 11-2 run to close the first half pulled the Rockets within 42-37 at intermission. Golden led the Red Wolves (2-4) with 18 points, including four 3-pointers.
Toledo opened the second half on 15-9 run to melt the deficit and went up one, 52-51, on Nathan Boothe's jumper fewer than 7 minutes in.