Johnson leads Little Rock past Troy, 72-49; Trojans now 10-1

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Marcus Johnson, Jr. scored 18 points and conference-leading Little Rock rolled over Troy Thursday night, posting a 72-49 victory to push their Sun Belt record to 10-1.

Little Rock held a 28-22 lead at intermission, but Johnson hit a pair of 3-pointers early in the second half to push the lead to 10 points, 34-24.

Josh Hagins sparked a 7-0 Little Rock run that pushed the lead to 41-27.

Johnson was 4 of 6 from behind the arc and Little Rock shot 50 percent from 3-point range as a team (9 of 18) while shooting 46.6 percent overall from the field (27 of 58).

Hagins finished with 15 points for Little Rock (20-2, 10-1).

John Walton III scored 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting to lead Troy (6-16, 1-10). Wesley Person added 13 points. Troy was just 18 of 47 from the floor (38.3 percent).

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UL Lafayette downs Appalachian State 87-76

BOONE, N.C. (AP) Shawn Long scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his 68th career double-double and UL Lafayette beat Appalachian State 87-76 on Thursday night to win its eighth-straight game.

The Ragin' Cajuns (13-8, 9-3 Sun Belt Conference) led 52-35 at halftime on 60 percent shooting and pulled to a 21-point lead early in the second half.

The Mountaineers gained on runs of 8-2 and 10-2 and closed to within 78-74 on Frank Eaves' layup with 5:08 left, but got no closer.

Bryce Washington scored 14 points with nine rebounds, Jay Wright added 12 points and Johnathan Stove had 10 with four assists for UL Lafayette, which outscored the Mountaineers 50-38 in the paint.

Long is the NCAA active leader in double-doubles and total rebounds (1,306).

Ronshad Shabazz led Appalachian State (6-16, 4-7) with 18 points, Eaves had 15 and Griffin Kinney added 10.

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Arkansas State beats South Alabama 79-73 in OT

JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) Devin Carter had a career-high six 3-pointers and scored 33 points and Anthony Livingston scored five of his 20 points in overtime as Arkansas State beat South Alabama 79-73 Thursday night.

Georgi Boyanov made two-straight buckets and South Alabama led 73-72 in OT. Livingston followed with a 3-point play and Charles Waters added two free throws for a 77-73 lead with 23 seconds left.

Livingston sealed it with two free throws with 16 seconds to play.

Trailing 35-26 at halftime, South Alabama rallied to a 69-64 lead, but was scoreless in the final 4:17 while Carter hit a 3 with 1:18 left to tie it at 69. The Jaguars' Nick Stover missed a jumper at the end of regulation.

The Red Wolves (11-11, 7-4 Sun Belt Conference) shot 38 percent but made 21 of 24 free throws.

Boyanov led South Alabama (9-13, 4-7) with 20 points and 14 rebounds, both career highs.

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Crider scores 24, Georgia State hold off Texas State, 59-56

ATLANTA (AP) Markus Crider scored 24 points and knocked down a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left to secure Georgia State's 59-56 win over Texas State Thursday night.

The Panthers took the lead on Malik Benlevi's layup with 11:19 left in the game during a 13-0 run that saw the take a 51-45 advantage with just under seven minutes to play.

Kavin Gilder-Tilbury hit a pair of free throws to get Texas State within one, 57-56, with 1:27 left but the Bobcats were scoreless the rest of the way and Crider's free throws set the final margin.

Crider was 10 of 14 and did not attempt a three-pointer. As a team, Georgia State (13-7, 6-5 Sun Belt) was 21 of 46 from the field (45.7 percent), including 4 of 10 from 3-point range.

Cameron Naylor scored 15 points to lead Texas State (9-10, 3-7) and Emani Gant grabbed 11 rebounds.

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Hot-shot youngsters lead Georgia Southern past UT Arlington 82-73

STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) Three underclassmen - Tookie Brown, Mike Hughes and Ike Smith - teamed up to score 69 points as Georgia Southern defeated UT Arlington 82-73 on Thursday night, avenging an earlier loss in conference.

With 26 points, Brown, a high-scoring freshman, has reached double figures in 20 of 21 games this season, breaking 20 points seven times. The sophomore Hughes added 23 points, one off his career best. Smith, a freshman, reached 20 points for the third time.

Georgia Southern (9-12, 5-6 Sun Belt) opened the second half on a 16-4 run to erase a seven-point Texas-Arlington advantage and take control of the game.

The lost was the fourth in a row for Texas-Arlington (14-7, 5-5). Jalen Jones led the Mavericks with a career-high 24 points and Kaelon Wilson added 19 with 11 rebounds.

Georgia Southern made 12 of 30 3-point shots - nine in the turnaround second half - Hughes draining four, Smith and Brown three each.