Little Rock shoots past South Alabama 74-43
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Roger Woods scored 12 points as Little Rock broke away in the second half to defeat South Alabama 74-43 Saturday night for its sixth-straight win and 11th in the last 12 games.
The Trojans opened the second half on a 9-0 run and kept going, shooting 72 percent after halftime (18-25). Woods hit 6-for-7 from the field. Marcus Johnson added 11 points and Jalen Jackson 10 for Little Rock (21-2, 11-1 Sun Belt).
Josh Hagins buried consecutive 3-pointers wrapped around one of Woods' three steals, pushing the lead to 56-31 with 10:44 to play. Hagins had nine points and six assists.
South Alabama (9-14, 4-8) answered with an 8-0 run early in the second half, but then shot 1-for-7. Ken Williams led with nine points.
The 1985-86 Little Rock team that upset Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament was inducted into the school's hall of fame during a halftime ceremony.
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UT Arlington beats Georgia St. 90-69 to stop losing skid
ATLANTA (AP) Jorge Bilbao had 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Texas-Arlington stopped a four-game losing skid with a 90-69 win over Georgia State on Saturday.
Texas-Arlington, which had a run of eight-straight wins midseason, lost five of its last seven contests. The Mavericks beat Georgia State 85-70 in the first meeting this year. Kevin Hervey, who led all scorers with 17 points in that win, is out for the season after injuring his knee on January 22.
Erick Neal was 5 of 8 from long range for 17 points and Drew Charles, who hit 4 of 9 treys, added 16 and had eight rebounds for Texas-Arlington (15-7, 6-5 Sun Belt Conference). Kaelon Wilson totaled 15 points and Jalen Jones chipped in 10.
The Mavericks, who won the rebound battle 45-27, dominated the second half 43-31.
Isaiah Williams led Georgia State (13-8, 6-6) with 14 points. Kevin Ware added 12.
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Coppola lifts UL Monroe past Appalachian State 91-90
BOONE, N.C. (AP) Nick Coppola scored 25 points and his layup with 10 seconds left lifted UL Monroe past Appalachian State 91-90 on Saturday.
Majok Deng had 22 and Justin Roberson added 21 for Louisiana-Monroe (11-12, 7-5 Sun Belt), which picked up its first conference road win.
Ronshad Shabazz's layup with 3:13 left put the Mountaineers up 87-80. Roberson hit a 3 and Deng's jumper cut it to two. Chris Burgess hit a 3 and Appalachian State (6-17, 4-8) led 90-85 with 1:45 to go.
The Warhawks got two free throws by Jamaal Samuel after he was fouled by Burgess. Shabazz, who scored a game-high 27 points, turned the ball over and Frank Eaves fouled Roberson who made two free throws to cut the deficit to 90-89.
Bennett Holley missed a 3 for the Mountaineers and DeMondre Harvey gathered the defensive rebound. Deng then assisted to Holley for the game winner.
Eaves missed a jumper that Shabazz collected, but his dunk attempt with two seconds left failed to go down.
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Smith's late 3 helps Georgia Southern beat Texas State 66-62
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) Ike Smith made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 34 seconds left, then forced a turnover to help Georgia Southern beat Texas State 66-62 on Saturday night.
Tookie Brown scored 25 points to lead the Eagles (10-12, 6-6 Sun Belt), who shot 50 percent from the floor. Mike Hughes added 18 points.
Ethan Montalvo scored 16 points for Texas State (9-11, 3-8). Emani Gant added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Kavin Gilder-Tilbury chipped in 11 points.
The Eagles never trailed until Gant made a pair of free throws to give the Bobcats a 59-58 lead with 5:25 to play.
Hughes scored the next four points, and then Gilder-Tilbury made a 3-pointer to tie it at 62-all with 55 seconds remaining. Smith hit the 3 and had a steal, and Brown added a free throw with 19 seconds left to seal it.
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Troy comes back for win, knocks off Arkansas State 71-70
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) John Walton III completed a 3-point play and Daniel Peace made two free throws with 13 seconds left to provide just enough cushion for Troy to hold off Arkansas State 71-70 on Saturday night.
Walton III scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Wesley Person had 22 points and Jordon Varnado added nine points and hauled in nine rebounds for Troy (7-16, 2-10 Sun Belt Conference) which picked up its first win since dropping Texas State 66-57 on January 16.
Troy led throughout until Anthony Livingston nailed a trey to start a 14-2 run and take a 66-61 lead with 4:07 left. Troy did not retake the lead until Walton III and Peace got the winning points. Arkansas State had a chance to win but Nouhoum Bocoum missed a tip-in as time expired.
Livingston was 6 of 11 from the field for 19 points for Arkansas State (11-12, 7-5).