Brown, Smith lead Georgia Southern past Coastal Carolina
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) Tookie Brown and Ike Smith combined for eight 3-pointers, 44 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists on Monday night and Georgia Southern beat Coastal Carolina 91-80 to remain unbeaten in the Sun Belt Conference.
Brown hit four 3s and scored 23 and Smith made 8 of 14 from the field, blocked three shots and had two steals. B.J. Gladden and Mike Hughes added 12 points apiece and Montae Glenn scored 11.
Smith hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Georgia Southern (14-6, 7-0), which never trailed, a 19-9 lead. It was 44-34 at halftime before a 6-0 run by the Chanticleers cut it to 61-56 with 9:48 to go - the closest margin since midway through the first half. Smith answered with a 3 and then hit another during a 20-4 run that made it 81-60 nearly five minutes later.
Elijah Wilson and Colton Ray-St Cyr scored 15 apiece for Coastal Carolina (9-11, 4-3), which fell to 4-1 all-time against the Eagles.
Georgia Southern shot 52.7 percent overall, hit 13 3-pointers and outscored the Chanticleers 20-5 from the free-throw line.
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UTA tops 100 points for first time in 4 years
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Jalen Jones hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points, Kevin Hervey added 21 points, and UTA won its third-straight game 108-71 over Louisiana on Monday night.
The Mavericks (15-5, 5-2 Sun Belt), who topped 100 points for the first time since 2013, shot 40-for-70 from the field (57.1 percent) and hit 13 3-pointers. They also won the rebounding battle 52-36 and had 27 assists on their 40 field goals.
UTA led 40-31 at halftime and stretched it to double figures on a Jones 3 one minute into the second half. Jones' basket sparked a 13-0 run and a 20-point Mavericks lead.
The Ragin' Cajuns (13-7, 3-4) never made a serious run, and two Faith Pope free throws put UTA up 30, 99-69, with 2:15 remaining.
Bryce Washington finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for Louisiana. P.J. Hardy added 14 points and Johnathan Stove finished with 12 for the Ragin' Cajuns.
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Simonds lifts Georgia State past Appalachian State 83-72
ATLANTA (AP) D'Marcus Simonds scored 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting to lead Georgia State to an 83-72 win over Appalachian State on Monday night.
Malik Benlevi added 10 points for Georgia State (12-7, 5-2 Sun Belt), which shot 57 percent from the field to pick up its fourth-straight win. Simonds was just a point shy of tying his career high.
Leading by seven at the break, Georgia State broke away with a 10-0 run sparked by Simonds' 3-point play to lead 57-37 midway through the second half and hung on from there.
Appalachian State (6-12, 1-6) started strong, scoring eight of the game's first 11 points and later got a layup from Tyrell Johnson midway through the first half to retake the lead 19-18. But the Panthers responded with a layup from Isaiah Dennis to begin pulling steadily away.
Johnson finished with a career-high 22 points to lead four Mountaineers in double figures.
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Arkansas State downs South Alabama 74-62 behind Simms
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) Deven Simms scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, both career highs, to lead Arkansas State to a 74-62 win over South Alabama on Monday night.
Tamas Bruce and Devin Carter added 13 points apiece for Arkansas State (14-6, 5-2 Sun Belt), which shot 52 percent from the field and controlled the boards 38-28. Rashad Lindsey finished with 10 points.
Simms, a junior college transfer who averaged 20.3 points and 10.1 rebounds per game last season, dropped in a layup late in the first half to spark a 12-0 run that made it 39-25 and the Red Wolves led the rest of the way. This is Simms' first season with a Division 1 program.
South Alabama (9-11, 2-5) opened the second half with a 10-0 run to tighten the gap to 45-41 before Simms sank a pair of free throws to end the Red Wolves' nearly seven-minute scoring drought.
Ken Williams led the Jaguars with 14 points.
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Troy beats Little Rock as teams combine for 58 FT attempts
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Jordon Varnado scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Jeremy Hollimon added 23 points and Troy beat Little Rock 78-69 on Monday night.
The teams combined for 58 free-throw attempts after 41 fouls were called. Troy hit 23 from the stripe and Little Rock made 24.
Alex Hicks had 14 points and eight rebounds for Troy (11-10, 3-4 Sun Belt). Varnado was 8 of 11 from the line and Hollimon made nine of his 10 attempts.
Little Rock missed a deep 3, Varnado was fouled, and then hit a free throw to put Troy up 76-69 with 31.4 to play. Varnado stole it on Little Rock's next possession and Hollimon made two free throws to seal it.
Marcus Johnson Jr. scored 16 points on 9-of-10 free-throw shooting and Deondre Burns added 12 points for Little Rock (12-8, 3-4).
It was Troy's first win in the series since the 2013-14 season.
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Texas State tops ULM after 6 ties in 2nd half
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) Nijal Pearson scored 18 points, Kavin Gilder-Tilbury had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Texas State beat ULM 63-57 on Monday night.
Pearson added eight rebounds and Conley chipped in 14 points for Texas State (11-8, 4-3 Sun Belt Conference). Gilder-Tilbury, a senior, had his second double-double of his career - and the season.
It was tied six times in the second half - the last with 8:43 left. Gilder-Tilbury scored the next four points to spark a 9-0 run for a 53-44 lead and Bobby Conley hit a corner 3-pointer with 1:44 left for a 10-point advantage.
Sam McDaniel had 14 points and nine rebounds for ULM (6-14, 0-7), while Marcus Washington added 13 and eight. Jordon Harris and Nick Coppola each scored 10 points and combined for eight assists.
The Warhawks have lost seven straight and fell to 1-9 on the road this season.