Johnson has 28, Little Rock beats C. Arkansas 79-73
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Marcus Johnson Jr. was 8 of 12 from the floor and hit 4 of 6 from long range to score 28 points to lead Little Rock to its sixth victory, a 79-73 win over Central Arkansas on Tuesday night.
Little Rock improved to 6-0 for the first time since moving to Division I in 1978-79.
The Trojans were up 75-64 with 1:27 left when Central Arkansas charged back, making seven unanswered points to close to 75-71 with 30 seconds remaining. Johnson Jr. and Josh Hagins, who finished with 12 points, made four straight free throws to seal the win.
Hagins also dished out seven assists and had two steals. Roger Woods added 12 points and Lis Shoshi chipped in 10 for Little Rock.
Jordan Howard made 9 of 12 field goals to lead Central Arkansas (1-5) with 22 points. Derreck Brooks had 16 points and four blocked shots.
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Troy tops Southern Mississippi 69-59
TROY, Ala. (AP) Jordon Varnardo scored 17 points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds, and Troy beat Southern Mississippi 69-59 on Tuesday night.
Jeremey Hollimon scored 14 points with four 3-pointers and Wesley Person added 12 points with three 3-pointers for the Trojans (4-3), who never trailed and shot 13 of 38 from behind the 3-point arc.
John Walton III had 11 boards and Troy outrebounded Southern Mississippi 44-34.
Varnardo, who notched his fourth double-double of the season, scored four points in Troy's 13-0 opening run. The Trojans hit five straight 3s for a 31-17 lead and were up 32-21 at halftime.
Troy pulled ahead in the second half on a 13-0 run in which Person, Varnardo and Hollimon each hit 3s and led by double digits the rest of the way.
Kourtlin Jackson led the Golden Eagles (0-5) with 15 points and Keljin Blevins scored 12 with 11 rebounds.
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Late 3-pointers help Texas beat UT Arlington 80-73 in OT
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Isaiah Taylor was scoreless in the first half and fearless in the second.
The Texas point guard scored all 21 of his points after intermission, including five in overtime, enabling the Longhorns to hold off UT Arlington 80-73 Tuesday night.
Denied access to the basket in the first half, Taylor aggressively worked his way to 17 free throws in the second half and overtime. He converted 13.
Taylor also made six assists in the game.
''He kind of got that look on his face like, `all right, this is what I have to do,''' Texas coach Shaka Smart said. ''He did a nice job of running the play, attacking, moving the ball.''
Connor Lammert and Eric Davis made 3-point shots late in overtime to create separation. Taylor hit five free throws during the extra period.
Lammert made his trey, assisted by Taylor, with 1:12 remaining. Lammert then provided the assist for Davis' 3-pointer with 31 seconds left.
''Backbreakers,'' UT Arlington coach Scott Cross said.
Javan Felix scored 18 for Texas. He made four of the Longhorns' 11 3-point baskets - one more than Lammert.
Kevin Hervey led UT Arlington with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Drew Charles added 12 points.
Texas (3-3) missed two shots in the final 46 seconds of regulation, an open 3-pointer by Lammert and a driving attempt by Taylor.
In between those two efforts, UT Arlington (5-2) missed one, a layup by Erick Neal.
The Mavs made the game close with hustle, outscoring Texas 19-12 after turnovers and 21-15 in second-chance points. Texas-Arlington outrebounded Texas 46-33.
''Our guys played extremely hard,'' Cross said.
UT Arlington put together two long runs in the first half, 9-0 and 11-0, to take a 31-27 lead at the break. The Mavericks led by 10 after their second scoring streak.
Texas went scoreless for more than four minutes during the first Mavericks push. The Longhorns outdid themselves during the second Texas-Arlington run, failing to score for more than seven minutes.
A common denominator during both scoreless stretches was a sagging, aggressive UT Arlington defense that forced Texas to shoot from the perimeter. Fourteen of the Longhorns' 26 shots in the first half were 3-pointers. They converted just four.
Smart said the Longhorns were too tight in the first half.
''You can't play not to lose,'' Smart said. ''We have to go out and play with an aggressive, confident, loose approach. If you lose, you don't die. You get to play another game.''
That was essentially Smart's message at halftime.
''He said, go play,'' Taylor said. ''Don't be hesitant. Just attack those dudes.''
TIP-INS
UT Arlington: Sophomore center Kevin Hervey has scored in double-figures in all seven games this season, including a career-best 27 points in a win at Rice on Sunday. ... The Mavericks, picked to finish eighth in the 11-team Sun Belt Conference by the league's coaches, won games at Ohio State and Memphis in a span of four days.
Texas: Longhorn guard Kendal Yancy was cleared to play Tuesday after missing three straight games with a concussion. Yancy, a junior reserve, played in the second half and made a 3-point basket. ... The Longhorns are 11-0 in all-time against Texas-Arlington.
FLY-BY ATTACK
Texas ended an 11-0 run by UT Arlington in the first half when Kerwin Roach, a 6-foot-4 freshman guard made a soaring dunk over the 6-8 Jorge Bilbao. The Longhorns, including Smart, said that play provided a spark they needed.
''It really surprised me to make that play,'' Roach said. ''I just wanted to provide energy. I felt like the team needed something.''
UP NEXT
UT Arlington hosts North Texas on Thursday.
Texas hosts Samford on Friday.
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Norton hits late FTs to give UAB 64-57 win over Georgia St.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Nick Norton, who was 4 of 7 from long range for 16 points, made four late free throws to help UAB hold off Georgia State 64-57 on Tuesday night.
UAB (4-3), which has won 12 straight home games, was ahead 34-26 at the break and held a 53-43 lead with 5:21 remaining.
Georgia State (3-2) made a late charge as Kevin Ware, Malik Benlevi, and Isaiah Williams scored 11 points in the closing minutes to close to 59-56 with 1:06 remaining.
Norton, Hakeem Baxter and Dirk Williams made seven free throws down the stretch to seal it for UAB.
Chris Cokley recorded his third double-double this season with 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for the Blazers. Williams added 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Jeremy Hollowell led Georgia State with 15 points. Markus Crider added 12 and Ware chipped in 11.
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Missouri beats Arkansas State 88-78
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) Namon Wright scored 14 points, including nine in the second half, helping Missouri defeat Arkansas State 88-78 on Tuesday night.
Arkansas State's Devin Carter led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of 14-shooting. Carter entered the game averaging 15.5 points per game.
Tramaine Isabell scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and K.J. Walton added 10 points and five rebounds as Missouri got 38 points from its bench.
The Tigers opened the game with a 13-0 run, holding Arkansas State scoreless for the first 6:06. Christian Davis put the Red Wolves on the board with a baseline jump shot, his only points of the game.
Missouri big men Ryan Rosburg and Kevin Puryear each scored 10 points, shooting a combined 9 of 16. Puryear added seven rebounds and Rosburg two. The Tigers (3-3) outscored the Red Wolves (2-5) 44-26 in the paint and won the rebound margin 43-39.