Hagins leads Little Rock past DePaul 66-44
CHICAGO (AP) Josh Hagins scored 19 with eight assists and keyed an 18-4 run to start the second half as Little Rock extended the best start to a season in program history with a 66-44 win over DePaul on Saturday night.
The Trojans led 32-23 at halftime before Hagins had six points and two assists during the decisive run that pushed the LR lead to 23 points with 11 minutes to play.
Little Rock (8-0) overcame poor shooting from the field - the Trojans shot just 40.7 percent on 54 attempts, including 6 of 20 from 3-point range - by making 16 of 20 free throws and forcing 20 DePaul turnovers.
LR came into the game ranked No. 2 nationally in free throw percentage (.815) and fifth in turnover margin (6.4). The Trojans were plus-11 in turnovers Saturday night.
Myke Henry led DePaul (5-4) with 16 points. Billy Garrett Jr., who came in leading the Blue Demons at 15.6 points per game, finished with two points on 1-of-6 shooting.
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Georgia State clips Old Dominion, 68-64
ATLANTA (AP) Jeff Thomas scored 18 points, Jeremy Hollowell added 16 points and seven rebounds, and Georgia State hung on down the stretch to beat Old Dominion 68-64.
Markus Crider finished with 13 points and seven rebounds and Kevin Ware had 12 points and four assists for the Panthers (5-2), who remained perfect at home this season, moving to 4-0.
Georgia State hit six of its eight free throws down the stretch to put the game away. Crider hit a pair and Isaiah Williams added two more which gave the Panthers a 66-60 lead with 29 seconds left. After an Aaron Bacote jumper cut the lead back to four, Williams buried two more at the line to ice it.
Overall the Panthers hit 23-of-30 at the line.
Trey Freeman and Zoran Talley each scored 16 points to lead Old Dominion (4-5).
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Penn State beats UL Monroe 54-50
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) Shots weren't falling for Shep Garner, but words of encouragement and challenges from his teammates kept flying his way.
As Penn State slid deeper into a hole against a team that hadn't beaten a Power 5 team in eight years, Brandon Taylor grabbed Garner in the huddle and told him simply to do something. Garner complied.
He scored his first points in Penn State's 54-50 win over UL Monroe with 8:48 to play, then put the Nittany Lions ahead for good with a layup and ensuing free throw as part of a 23-13 run the Nittany Lions (7-3) used to close out the game.
''Shep didn't have one of his better games but he's starting to understand,'' Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. '' `It's not my day. I'm not making shots. Let me go get a stop. Let me be a great teammate and make sure we're connected out here.' "
Garner finished with eight points while Taylor scored 16. Two came on a second-chance layup with 11:10 to play that kick-started the comeback run after Penn State's 25-24 halftime advantage disappeared quickly.
Travis Munnings led UL Monroe (4-4) with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Jamaal Samuel added 11 for the Warhawks, who led by six with 16:13 to play despite missing top scorer Majok Deng, who missed his second straight game with a lower leg injury.
Taylor made two free throws and Donovan Jack added another in the final minute to seal the win. Payton Banks added 10 points for Penn State in its second win in Rec Hall in three days.
But it was Garner's feisty play down the stretch that turned the tide. Before he gave his team the lead, Garner backtracked on defense and swiped the ball from Munnings under the Warhawks' basket. Garner took it the other way and nailed a layup that compounded the momentum Taylor provided with his putback just moments before.
It also roused a crowd of 4,824 that had little to cheer for as the teams traded baskets after long stretches of ineffective shooting in the first half.
''I just needed him to do something and he came through for all of us,'' Taylor said. ''Those two big time moves and he got it done.''
Jordan Dickerson had seven blocks for Penn State, who outscored the Warhawks 30-20 in the paint and 16-4 in points off of turnovers.
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TIP-INS
UL Monroe: The Warhawks didn't get much help from their reserves when they actually did get in the game. Louisiana-Monroe scored just two bench points while its starters combined to play 170 minutes.
Penn State: The Nittany Lions led for just 4:44 before Garner's points that gave the Nittany Lions the lead for good.
DEFENSE LOOKING UP
Garner's steal that led to his coast-to-coast layup was one of a handful of defensive highlights for Chambers, who believes his team has committed to playing defense first.
''I need to see guys in stances more,'' Chambers said. ''We need to be loaded a little bit better. We just take a few possessions off. We're exactly where we're supposed to be Dec. 12.''
Penn State pulled down 47 rebounds with 29 of them coming in their defensive end while Dickerson's blocks kept the Warhawks in check in the paint. Meanwhile, Penn State made a big improvement from its last game in turnovers, giving the ball away just eight times compared with 21 times against Canisius on Thursday.
BREAK NEEDED
Chambers lamented his decision to schedule four games in eight days just before Penn State's winter break, especially considering the academic course work his players have looming. The Nittany Lions will resume practice on Wednesday and will play Drexel (1-6) at the Palestra in Philadelphia on Dec. 19.
''These next three days are critical for these guys to really get away, get out of the gym and get some rest and be a college kid for a couple of days,'' Chambers said. ''Same for me. I'm going to get out of the gym for a couple of days.''
UP NEXT
UL Monroe visits No. 14 West Virginia on Sunday.
Penn State visits Drexel on Saturday.
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La Tech with 36th straight home win, beats UL Lafayette
RUSTON, La. (AP) Alex Hamilton scored a season-high 30 points and Louisiana Tech stretched its home winning streak to 36 games with a 91-79 victory over UL Lafayette on Saturday.
Hamilton was 7 of 14 from the floor and added 11 rebounds, eight assists, and three steals. Erik McCree scored 25 points and Dayon Griffin chipped in a career-best 22 points for Louisiana Tech (8-1), which improved to 6-0 at home this season. The Bulldogs entered the game tied with the nation's second longest home-winning streak.
Kasey Shepherd scored 22 points on 8-of-21 shooting to lead UL Lafayette (3-4).
Shepherd had seven points during a 9-0 spurt to give the Ragin' Cajuns a 51-42 lead. It was tied at 63 with seven minutes left before the Bulldogs used a 20-6 run to take an 83-69 with 1:45 remaining. McCree scored nine points and Hamilton added six points during the span.