Jones' 21 pts lead UT Arlington past Texas Southern, 89-81
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Jalen Jones scored 21 points and led four players into double figure scoring as UT Arlington held off Texas Southern, 89-81 in the season opener Saturday night.
The Mavericks built their lead in the first half, taking a 45-38 lead into intermission.
The game was billed as a showcase for two of the top college forwards from the state of Texas: UT Arlington's Kevin Hervey and Texas Southern's Derrick Griffin. Hervey scored 16 points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds to get the better of the matchup. Griffin finished with seven points and three boards in 35 minutes.
Kaelon Wilson finished with 18 points for the Mavericks, the preseason favorites to win the Sun Belt Conference. All five starters from a year ago return for UT Arlington.
Zach Lofton poured in 37 points to lead Texas Southern, the preseason favorites to win the Southwestern Conference.
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Little Rock cruises to 97-65 win over Central Baptist
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Kemy Osse scored a career-high 16 points, Marcus Johnson Jr. added 13 and seven rebounds, and Little Rock got 44 points from its bench on Saturday en route to a 97-65 season-opening win over Central Baptist College.
Jalen Jackson's 3-pointer with 6:19 left in the first half gave Little Rock a 43-18 lead. The Mustangs never got within 20 points the rest of the way in Wes Flanigan's first game as head coach after serving as associate head coach on last year's team that went 30-5.
Andre Jones led Little Rock's bench with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
The Trojans shot 56 percent from the field (33 of 59) compared with 33 percent for Central Baptist.
Nick Jones hit four 3s and went 9 of 12 from the line for 21 points for the Mustangs. Jordan Ford made three 3s and totaled 13 points.
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Late rally lifts Davidson over Appalachian State 86-74
DAVIDSON, N.C. (AP) Peyton Aldridge scored 31 points on 11-of-18 shooting and Davidson saved its biggest run for last to beat Appalachian State 86-74 in Saturday night's season opener.
Trailing 37-33 at halftime, Davidson rallied and the lead traded hands 15 times before Jon Axel Gudmundsson hit a 3 and two free throws to put the Wildcats up 72-68 with 5:04 left. Will Magarity dunked, then Aldridge made a layup and Davidson pulled away on an 8-1 run in the final 2:12.
Aldridge made 4 of 6 3-point tries, Rusty Reigel scored 13 points and made four assists and Gudmundsson had 11 points with five assists. The Wildcats outshot the Mountaineers 48 percent (30 of 63) to 39 percent (23 of 59) from the field and hit 9 of 22 from long distance (41 percent).
Ronshad Shabazz and Jake Babic each scored 11 points for the Mountaineers and Griffin Kinney and Tyrell Johnson each had 10.
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Hawaii rallies in 2nd half, beats Texas State 74-68
HONOLULU (AP) Sheriff Drammeh had 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists Sunday night and Hawaii erased a 14-point deficit to beat Texas State 74-68 in the second night of the Rainbow Classic.
Noah Allen's drive-and-feed to set up Gibson Johnson for an inside basket put Hawaii (1-1) in control with a five-point lead and 1:04 left. Jack Purchase added a pair of free throws that capped a 13-1 run at 71-64.
Hawaii committed 10 of its 14 turnovers before the break and trailed 38-24 in the final minute of the first half. The Rainbow Warriors tied it at 55 and took their first lead at 64-63 on the first of a pair of free throws by Drammeh.
Purchase had 15 points, and Johnson and Allen scored 13 each for Hawaii.
Kavin Gilder-Tilbury had 18 points, Nijal Pearson scored 14 and Bobby Conley 10 for Texas State (1-1).