Arkansas State wins at Mississippi State 69-55
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) Arkansas State's Sean Gardner scored a game-high 22 points and Cameron Golden added 15 to lead the Red Wolves defeated Mississippi State 69-55 Wednesday at Humphrey Coliseum.
It was the second road win for Arkansas State (3-4) while the Bulldogs (5-4) dropped their fourth straight game.
Nouhoum Bocoum added 13 points and eight boards for the Red Wolves. Roquez Johnson led Mississippi State with 20 points and was the only Bulldog in double figures.
Arkansas State jumped out to an early 12-4 lead in the first half as cold shooting plagued the Bulldogs in the opening 20 minutes. Mississippi State head coach Rich Ray pulled his entire starting five in the opening minutes and the reserves responded with an 11-0 run to give the Bulldogs a 15-12 lead.
Arkansas State regained the lead, however, in the next two minutes and led 35-27 at halftime.
''That is a good win for our team,'' said Arkansas State head coach John Brady. ''Any time you can go on the road and beat a Southeastern Conference team is good for us. We have 10 new players on our team and had not figured out how to close out a game. Our emphasis has been to play consistent for 40 minutes. Tonight we were able to finish a game.''
Mississippi State shot just 32.3 percent for the game and that included a woeful 3-of-17 from three-point territory. Arkansas State shot 52.2 percent from the floor and was 8-of-19 behind the arc, including a 5-of-10 performance by Gardner.
''This is about as disappointing a loss we've had since we've been here,'' said Mississippi State head coach Rick Ray. ''I thought our defensive effort was really lacking and that is what's so troubling and defense is what we have to hang our hat on. Our offensive woes are well-documented and we lacked defensive intensity. Our goal is to make people shoot contested jump shots and I thought there were way too many uncontested jump shots out there.''
Mississippi State only got 15 points from the starting lineup with the bench scoring 40.
TIP-INS
Mississippi State: Freshman Demetrius Houston returned to action after missing past two games due to a concussion suffered in practice. ... Wednesday's loss was the first for Mississippi State at home this season after starting out 4-0 at Humphrey Coliseum.
Arkansas State: Head coach John Brady is a former Mississippi State assistant coach and was a graduate assistant coach at Mississippi State. ... The Red Wolves are now 10-15 all-time against Mississippi State. ... Arkansas State collected just its second win over a Division 1 team this season.
UP NEXT
Mississippi State plays USC Upstate in Jackson, Miss., on Saturday.
Arkansas State hosts Marshall on Saturday.
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Long scores 26 as UL Lafayette tops Milligan 115-76
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) Shawn Long finished with 26 points and ten rebounds to lead UL Lafayette to a 115-76 win over NAIA Milligan on Wednesday night.
Devonta Walker and Brian Williams scored 15 apiece while Jay Wright and Donovan Williams both added 10 for Louisiana Lafayette (6-4). Seven players reached double-figures in scoring, and Walker finished 7 of 7 from the floor for the Ragin' Cajuns.
Three players netted 17 points for the Buffaloes. Morgan McLeod added six rebounds and five assists, Mickey Woods was 7 of 19 and three boards and Jr. Mike Woods had was 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Milligan (10-5) shot 52.6 percent (10-19) from deep.
Milligan kept the deficit within single digits until midway through the first half, as the Ragin' Cajuns outscored Milligan by 13 the rest of the half to take a 64-43 lead.
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Old Dominion beats Georgia State in OT 58-54
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) Trey Freeman scored 21 points - six in late-game heroic fashion - to lead Old Dominion over Georgia State in overtime 58-54 on Wednesday night.
Marcus Crider's layup put Georgia State up two with 2:14 remaining in overtime, but Freeman scored on back-to-back possessions and Jonathan Arledge dunked it home to seal the game for Old Dominion.
The Monarchs trailed by eight with 3:44 left in regulation before Freeman led the charge to force overtime. His jumper with 59 seconds left tied it at 50 to prompt the extra session.
Aaron Bacote finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Richard Ross grabbed 11 boards for Old Dominion (8-1).
Ryan Harrow had 16 points, six assists and three steals, R.J. Hunter had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Crider added 11 and 6 boards for Georgia State (6-3).
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Stephen F. Austin edges Texas State 66-60
NACOGDOCHES, Texas (AP) Demetrious Floyd scored 20 points from the bench as Stephen F. Austin edged Texas State 66-60 on Wednesday night.
Jacob Parker added 14 points, three assist and three rebounds for the Lumberjacks (8-3). Thomas Walkup had seven points, five assists and four rebounds.
Cameron Naylor led the Bobcats (5-3) with 13 points and eight rebounds. D.J. Brown added 12 points and four assists.
Texas State led through much of the first period with Naylor sinking 4 of 5 from the field and the Bobcats were up 30-27 at the break.
A pair of 3-pointers by Floyd early in the second half helped tie it up, 37-37, before the Lumberjacks pulled ahead on a 12-0 run to lead 49-37 with 11:05 remaining. Texas State pulled to within three on a Brown 3-pointer with 20 seconds left but Parker sank 3 of 4 from the line to seal the win for the Lumberjacks.