Little Rock wins 15th, beats Appalachian State 81-55
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Roger Woods and Jalen Jackson combined for 32 points to lead Little Rock to its 15th victory of the season, an 81-55 win over Appalachian State on Thursday night.
Woods made 6 of 9 from the floor for 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Jackson added 16 and also picked off seven rebounds. Lis Shoshi chipped in 12 for Little Rock (15-1, 5-0 Sun Belt Conference), which is off to its best start in program history.
The Trojans only loss was to Texas Tech, 65-53. They have won five straight since.
Little Rock trailed early but charged back for a 46-32 halftime advantage. The Trojans stretched that to 67-44 midway of the final period and coasted to the win.
Chris Burgess made 3 of 4 from long range for 17 points and Frank Eaves added 11 for the Mountaineers (3-13, 1-4).
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UT Arlington beats Troy 90-63
TROY, Ala. (AP) Kevin Hervey and Jalen Jones had five 3-pointers apiece and UT Arlington stayed undefeated in Sun Belt Conference play with a 90-63 win over Troy on Thursday night.
Hervey finished with 22 points and Jones with 21 for the Mavericks (13-2, 4-0), who won their eighth in a row since an 80-73 overtime loss to Texas on Dec. 1.
Troy (5-11, 0-5) opened with a 20-9 lead while UT-Arlington shot 4 for 16 from the field in the first eight minutes. The Mavericks responded with a 22-9 run to take the lead at 31-29 on Jones' 4-point play with 4:28 left in the half. The Trojans tied it at 31 but never led again.
The Mavericks continued to pull away, outscoring Troy 21-2 until they led 52-33 early in the second half.
Jorge Bilbao added 10 points for UT-Arlington. Jordon Varnado led the Trojans with 19.
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Long lifts UL Lafayette past Georgia Southern 74-65
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) Shawn Long scored 23 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead UL Lafayette to a 74-65 win over Georgia Southern on Thursday night.
Long hit 10 of 13 shots and went over 1,200 rebounds (1,213) for his career in getting his 10th double-double of the season and 62nd of his career.
The Ragin' Cajuns (6-8, 2-3 Sun Belt) led 38-35 at the half and pushed the margin to 15 on a Devonta Walker free throw midway through the second half. Mike Hughes made 3 of 4 free throws to put the Eagles (5-10, 1-4) within seven with 1:33 to play, but three different players made a pair of free throws in the last 63 seconds to secure the win.
Tookie Brown led Georgia Southern with 20 points.
The Ragin Cajuns shot 47 percent, going 6 of 21 behind the arc. The Eagles shot 36 percent but was 1 of 14 on 3-point attempts.
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Thomas has 14, Georgia St. rolls over UL Monroe 65-51
ATLANTA (AP) Jeff Thomas nailed four of five from beyond the arc to finish with 14 points and help lead Georgia State to a 65-51 win over UL Monroe in Sun Belt Conference play on Thursday night.
Jeremy Hollowell and Isaiah Williams added 10 points apiece, and Markus Crider had seven points and 10 rebounds for Georgia State (11-3, 4-1), which has won four straight and eight of its last nine games.
Williams nailed a trey, Thomas made two 3-pointers and Williams added another to give the Panthers a 29-13 lead with 5:53 left in the first half. Georgia State pushed that to 41-23 at the break and coasted to the win in the second period.
The Panthers made 8 of 19 from beyond the arc while limiting Louisiana-Monroe to just 2-of-13.
Prince Cooper led the Warhawks (6-10, 2-3) with 12 points. Marcus Washington added 10.
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Texas State never trails, beats South Alabama 78-67
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) Emani Gant scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as Texas State led from start to finish and defeated South Alabama 78-67 on Thursday night.
Gant and Kavin Gilder-Tilbury scored five points each as Texas State (8-5, 2-2 Sun Belt) opened the game on a 14-1 clip.
South Alabama (6-10, 1-4) closed the gap to 35-32 at halftime and came as close as three points twice in the second half.
Texas State put the game away with a 16-4 run midway through the second half as Gilder-Tilbury, K.J. Malveau and Ethan Montalvo dropped consecutive 3-pointers. Montalvo, who had a second trey in the run, finished with 18 points and four 3-pointers.
The Bobcats outrebounded South Alabama 37-28 and had 15 assists on 28 field goals.
Ken Williams led South Alabama with 13 points, Nick Stover added 11 and Georgi Boyanov 10.