Johnson with 16 helps Little Rock outpace Tulsa 72-62
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Marcus Johnson Jr. scored 16 points as the University of Arkansas Little Rock won its third straight, outpacing Tulsa 72-62 on Saturday.
Johnson was 5 of 12 from the field and 4 of 5 from the line for the Trojans (6-2). Lis Shoshi added 15 points and eight rebounds and Oliver Black chipped in nine points off the bench.
Tulsa jumped to a 27-18 lead midway through the first period but an Andre Jones dunk and a Johnson 3-pointer contributed to a 13-0 run that put the Trojans on top 31-27 with 4:55 to go before the break. Shoshi hit a 3 with four seconds left to make it 45-31 at intermission.
Tulsa got as close as 56-52 midway through the second period but Little Rock soon recovered its double-digit advantage.
Jaleel Wheeler scored a career-best 17 points with four assists and six rebounds for the Golden Hurricane (3-3).
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UTA beats North Texas 77-61
DENTON, Texas (AP) Kevin Hervey scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the University of Texas Arlington notched its fifth-straight win, beating North Texas 77-61 on Saturday.
It was Hervey's third double-double this season for the Mavericks (6-3). Jorge Bilbao added 14 point and Jalen Jones and Kaelon Wilson had 10 apiece.
Wilson and Hervey combined for six points in just over a minute early in the second period to give the Mavericks a 47-34 lead with 14:46 to play. They maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the rest of the game and took a 23-point lead, 67-44, on a Wilson layup with 7:51 left.
Hervey sank a 3-pointer and a jumper back-to-back to give the Mavericks a 25-10 advantage with 8:51 left in the first period. They led 34-30 at the break.
Jeremy Combs scored 21 points with 12 rebounds for the Mean Green (4-4).
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Jay Wright leads Louisiana to 92-72 win
LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) Jay Wright was 7 of 13 from the floor and made 12 of 13 free throws to total 28 points as Louisiana ran away from McNeese State 92-72 on Saturday.
Frank Bartley IV had 21 points and Bryce Washington added 10 and grabbed 15 rebounds for Louisiana (6-2), which has won six straight. Johnathan Stove chipped in 20 points.
The teams were close in field goals, but the Ragin Cajuns ruled from the free throw line making 31 of 36. McNeese State made just 16 of the 25 free throws offered.
McNeese State held an early lead. The Ragin' Cajuns got their first lead with 3:22 remaining in the first half and took a 44-31 advantage into the break. They opened the second period on an 18-10 run and led 70-57 midway through the second half.
Jamaya Burr led McNeese State (2-5) with 17 points.
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TCU beats Arkansas State 77-54, still undefeated under Dixon
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) Vlad Brodziansky was quite impressive from the field for TCU, with the 6-foot-11 forward from Slovakia making all seven of his shots and blocking five others.
''Hey, you missed one free throw,'' Horned Frogs senior guard Michael Williams said, leaning over to Brodziansky after the game.
That can be forgiven considering that Brodziansky scored 18 points, on 7-of-7 shooting and 4-of-5 free throws, and had six rebounds as the Horned Frogs remained undefeated under Jamie Dixon with a 77-54 victory over Arkansas State on Saturday night.
TCU (8-0) led by only a bucket before Brodziansky scored seven consecutive points in a 55-second span, part of a 9-2 run for the Horned Frogs that JD Miller ended with a short jumper for a 46-37 lead.
''My teammates are finding me in the open spot on the floor. ... I didn't have to take any hard shots, or tough shots,'' Brodziansky said.
''I was excited. He kept the ball up, we've been working on that. He had a tendency to bring it down,'' said Dixon, calling that one of his pet peeves for big men. ''We've been working on simple little drills.''
Kenrich Williams added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Frogs, while freshman point guard Jaylen Fisher had 13 points despite some early foul trouble.
Devin Carter had 22 points and C.J. Foster 13 to lead Arkansas State (7-2). Grant McCasland is in his first season with the Sun Belt Conference team after the past five seasons in the Big 12 as a Baylor assistant.
''They're playing with a different level of confidence, and from what I see, you can tell there's a physicality still to the way they play and they're good defensively, they swarm you,'' McCasland said of TCU. ''They're playing with a little different confidence, different composure.''
BIG PICTURE
Arkansas State: The Red Wolves had won seven in a row, including a win at Georgetown, since losing their season opener. Starting guards Donte Thomas and Rashad Lindsey both came in averaging more than 10 points a game, but were a combined 2-of-12 shooting with each scoring only one basket.
TCU: The Horned Frogs still have four more games before starting Big 12 Conference play against fourth-ranked Kansas, but Dixon's team - which includes four seniors and a trio of talented freshmen - is growing together. After consecutive wins over Washington, in a tournament in Las Vegas last weekend and then at home Wednesday, Dixon said the Frogs played their best overall game against the best team they've played.
STILL UNBLEMISHED
Dixon, the former TCU player who was Pittsburgh's coach the past 13 seasons, is the first Frogs coach to ever win his first eight games.
MATH LESSON
Dixon took a few minutes after the game to give his team an algebra lesson. Some of his players didn't know how RPI is calculated, so he explained it to them. They may still be confused on all the calculations, but if they keep winning, all those numbers and decimals will take care of themselves.
HE SAID IT
''You get a chance to get exposed when you play a team like that,'' McCasland said.
UP NEXT
Arkansas State will spend most of December on the road. The Red Wolves played the first of five consecutive games away from home, but now have a 10-day break before going to UT-Martin on Dec. 14. Their next home game is their Sun Belt Conference opener on New Year's Eve against Louisiana-Lafayette.
TCU has two more games before a week off during finals exams. The Horned Frogs go to the other side of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to play at SMU on Wednesday, and then are home again next Saturday against Wofford.
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Middle Tennessee beats South Alabama 67-55
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) JaCorey Williams scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Middle Tennessee beat South Alabama 67-55 on Saturday night.
Williams was 7 of 11 from the field. Reggie Upshaw and Giddy Potts added 13 points apiece for the Blue Raiders (8-1), who averaged 50 percent shooting from the field and 63.6 percent from the line.
Upshaw opened the second half with a dunk, and Potts and Edward Simpson each added a 3-pointer to push Middle Tennessee's 31-24 halftime lead to 39-29 in the first two minutes of the period. Another Upshaw dunk stretched it to 50-38 with 10:27 remaining. Williams sealed with win with two free throws and a dunk in the final 22 seconds.
Potts hit two back-to-back 3-pointers in the first period to give Middle Tennessee a 26-9 lead with 6:41 to go before intermission.
Ken Williams and Don MuepoKelly scored 12 points apiece for the Jaguars (6-2).
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Western Carolina holds on to beat Appalachian State 58-53
BOONE, N.C. (AP) Haboubacar Mutombo scored 13 points; Devin Peterson added 11 and Western Carolina held off Appalachian State 58-53 on Saturday.
Western Carolina (3-5) bounced back from a 46-point loss to Marquette on Wednesday and has won two of its last three.
Deriece Parks made a pair of free throws to give the Catamounts a 56-53 lead with 22 seconds left. Emarius Logan drove in for a layup on the Mountaineer's ensuing possession, but his shot rimmed in and out with 11 seconds remaining. Adam Sledd and Elijah Pughsley each split free throws to seal it for Western Carolina.
Ronshad Shabazz scored 17 points on 3-of-17 shooting for Appalachian State (2-5), which shot just 13 of 49 from the floor for 26.5 percent. The Mountaineers made 21 of 30 free throws. Shabazz made nine shots from the line.
The Catamounts made 32 percent of their field goals on 19-of-59 shooting.
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UNC Asheville tops Coastal Carolina 79-77 in OT
CONWAY, S.C. (AP) Ahmad Thomas scored six of his 22 points in overtime, including a dunk and a 3-pointer off a steal, and UNC Asheville beat Coastal Carolina 79-77 on Saturday.
Thomas' dunk and free throw put the Bulldogs up 73-71 in OT, but Coastal Carolina's Colton Ray-St Cyr dunked to tie it. Thomas got a steal and hit a 3-pointer for a 76-73 UNC Asheville lead and Kevin Vannatta's 3 made it 79-75. Jaylen Shaw's two free throws pulled the Chanticleers within two points, and Elijah Wilson's 3 missed with two seconds left.
Up 38-28 at halftime, UNC Asheville led by 19 when the Chanticleers rallied on a 16-0 run and a 69-66 second-half lead after Ray-St Cyr's 3. Alec Wnuk buzzer-beating 3-pointer for the Bulldogs sent the game into overtime.
Freshman MaCio Teague scored 15 points and tallied 10 boards, seven assists and five steals for the Bulldogs (5-3). Raekwon Miller had 11 points and Vannatta finished with 10.
Shaw scored 21 for the Chanticleers (3-6).
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Pryor's 16 sparks Chattanooga past Louisiana Monroe, 79-52
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) Greg Pryor knocked down four 3-pointers to spark Chattanooga to a wire-to-wire, 79-52 romp past Louisiana Monroe Saturday.
Chattanooga doubled-up the Warhawks early, taking a 42-21 lead into intermission and pushed it to 29 points five minutes into the second half. The Mocs opened the season with five of seven games on the road and the game opened a three-game home stand.
Pryor finished with 16 points and led four Mocs into double-figure scoring. Justin Tuoyo finished with 14 points and Makinde London added another 13 off the Chattanooga (6-2) bench. The Mocs shot 27 of 56 from the field (48.2 percent), including 8 of 27 from beyond the arc (29.6 percent).
Travis Munnings and Sam McDaniel each scored 12 points for Louisiana Monroe (2-5), which shot 21 of 48 from the field (43.8 percent), including 2 of 7 from distance.