South Alabama downs Southern Miss 69-61 behind Sikes, McGee
MOBILE, Ala. -- Rodrick Sikes scored 20 points, Herb McGee added a career-high 19, and South Alabama beat Southern Miss 69-61 on Wednesday night.
 
Josh Ajayi scored 13 points and Nick Davis grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds and had five blocks for the Jaguars (5-3), who made 11 of 29 3-pointers, led by McGee with four and Sikes with three.
 
McGee hit three 3s in South Alabama's opening 23-2 run and the Jaguars never trailed en route to a 40-19 halftime lead after holding the Golden Eagles to 25.9 percent shooting in the half.
 
Southern Miss cut the deficit to 67-58 on Dominic Magee's free throw after a 12-0 run, but got no closer.
 
Magee scored 16 points with nine rebounds, and Cortez Edwards added 14 points for the Golden Eagles (3-4), who shot 39 percent.
 
Little Rock pulls away from C. Arkansas 71-65
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Andre Jones scored a career-high 24 points and Oliver Black grabbed a career-best 16 rebounds -- seven offensive -- and Little Rock rallied in the second half to beat Central Arkansas 71-65 Wednesday night.
 
Little Rock (2-5), which won its second straight, trailed 34-23 at intermission before using an 18-7 run and tied it at 41 with Anthony Black's 3-pointer. Otas Iyekekpolor gave Central Arkansas (4-4) its last lead, 50-49, with a layup.
 
Leading 65-58 with 2:46 left, Black gathered three offensive rebounds off his three misses inside. Darraja Parnell finally grabbed a defensive rebound off Black's fourth miss. Minus that sequence, the Trojans shot 7 of 8 from the floor in the final eight minutes.
 
Jaizec Lottie added 13 points for Little Rock.
 
The Bears, losers of two of three, got 12 points from Jordan Howard, 11 each from Thatch Unruh and 10 from Hayden Koval.
 
Peacock nearly has triple-double in Texas State's 66-53 win
SAN MARCOS, Texas -- Alex Peacock narrowly missed a triple-double, scoring 21 points with nine assists and nine rebounds to lead Texas State over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 66-53 on Wednesday night.
 
Peacock, a 6-foot-7 junior-college transfer, easily eclipsed his season bests in all three categories and added three steals. He made 7 of 8 shots, including both of his 3-pointers.
 
The Bobcats (4-3), who have won four of their last five games, shot 50 percent and outrebounded the Bobcats 40-25 for an 18-8 advantage on second-chance points.
 
Joseph Kilgore scored 14 points, Tre Gray 11 and Sean Rhea 10 for the Islanders (1-5), who have lost five straight.
 
The Islanders had a 9-5 lead four minutes into the game but were outscored 28-7 the rest of the half. Peacock had 13 points in the half.
 
The lead remained in double figures until the Bobcats closed to within eight with 6:52 left on a Kilgore 3-pointer. They were trailing by nine with four minutes remaining when Texas State closed the game on an 8-4 run with Nijal Pearson scoring five points.
 
Hervey's 27th double-double leads UTA in 69-49 win
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Kevin Hervey scored a season-high 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in leading UT Arlington over Rice 69-49 on Wednesday night for the Mavericks' fourth straight win.
 
Hervey shot 10 of 18 from the field, including five 3-pointers, in collecting his 27th career double-double, two away from equaling the program's career record.
 
Trailing by eight early, the Mavericks (6-1), used a run of 22-3 in overtaking the Owls (2-5), eventually going up by 14 at halftime. A 12-0 run in the second half with five points apiece from Hervey and DJ Bryant gave the Mavericks a 24-point lead with 8 1/2 minutes to go. The lead reached 28 before the Owls scored the game's final eight points.
 
Johnny Hamilton added 17 points and eight rebounds while Erick Neal had eight assists for the Mavericks.
 
Ako Adams led the Owls with 15 points. Rice shot just 24.5 percent.
 
UTA's only loss was at now-No. 24 Alabama, 77-76, on Nov. 21.
 
Person with 27 points leads Troy past UIC 87-66
TROY, Ala. -- Wesley Person scored 27 points and grabbed four rebounds and Troy rolled past Illinois-Chicago 87-66 at the Adolph Rupp Classic on Wednesday night.
 
Person was 7 of 15 from the field including five 3-pointers for the Trojans (5-3) who have won three straight. B.J. Miller had 12 points and five rebounds and Javan Johnson added 10.
 
The Trojans jumped to a 23-6 start capped by a Johnson 3-pointer midway and Person sank back-to-back 3s to push it to 34-16 with 4:40 left in the half and Troy led 39-20 at the break.
 
A Miller dunk followed by a Darian Adams 3-pointer stretched it to 66-38 with 10:45 to play and the Trojans cruised to the win from there.
 
Dominique Matthews sank four 3-pointers and both of his free throws to lead the Flames (2-4) with 14 points. Marcus Ottey added 11 points with four rebounds and four assists.
 
Simonds scores 15 points in Georgia State's 63-53 win
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- D'Marcus Simonds scored 15 points and Georgia State used a big run to start the second half in defeating Alabama A&M 63-53 on Wednesday night.
 
Devin Mitchell added 12 points and Malik Benlevi 10 for the Panthers (5-2).
 
Alabama A&M had a 14-7 lead but Georgia State's defense held the Bulldogs without a field goal for more than seven minutes with the teams tied at 29 at the half.
 
Georgia State opened the second half scoring the first five points and used a 9-3 run to take a 38-32 lead with 15:45 remaining, eventually going up by 12.
 
De'Ederick Petty led the Bulldogs (0-7) in their home opener with 16 points, while Andre Kennedy added 10.
 
"This was a gritty win for us tonight," Panthers coach Ron Hunter said. "Our defense kept us in the game in a tough environment to play. Our defensive effort is going to be what wins us a lot of games this year."
 
Magee with 26, Wofford beats Coastal Carolina 87-81
CONWAY, S.C. -- Fletcher Magee scored 26 points and dished seven assists as Wofford beat Coastal Carolina 87-81 on Wednesday night.
 
Magee was 10 of 14 from the field including 5 of 5 from beyond the arc for the Terriers (4-4). Trevor Stumpe added 16 points, Matthew Pegram had 14 points and seven boards, and Cameron Jackson chipped in 11 points.
 
Wofford averaged 55-percent shooting from the field, 77 percent from the line and 56 percent (14 of 25) from 3-point range.
 
The Terriers opened on a 19-9 run capped by a Stumpe 3-pointer and led all the way to a 40-32 advantage at the break.
 
Coastal Carolina closed to 52-51 midway through the second half but Stumpe replied with a 3-pointer and Nathan Hoover made a 3 and a layup to stretch the Terriers' lead to 59-52 with 8:31 remaining.
 
Jaylen Shaw led the Chanticleers (4-3) with a career-high 26 points.
 
Carpenter scores 17, Cleveland State takes 75-72 win
CLEVELAND -- Kenny Carpenter scored 17 points and Cleveland State held on to edge Arkansas State 75-72 on Wednesday night.
 
The Vikings (2-4) led 70-62 after a 10-0 run before the Red Wolves responded with seven straight to get within a point with 3 1/2 minutes left. The margin was still one point, 73-72, when the teams both botched inbounds plays in the final five seconds giving the final possession to the Vikings, who added two free throws from Bobby Word.
 
Anthony Wright and Word finished with 11 points each and Dontel Highsmith 10 for Cleveland State.
 
Deven Simms scored 14 points, Tristin Walley 13, Ty Cockfield 12 and Rashad Lindsey 11 for the Red Wolves (2-5).
 
Neither team led by double figures. The Red Wolves made 10 of 20 from the arc but gave up 22 points off 18 turnovers.