SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16
Hervey has 30 points, 16 boards, UT Arlington gets 86-65 win
EDINBURG, Texas -- Kevin Hervey had 30 points and a career-high 16 rebounds as UT Arlington bounced UT Rio Grande 86-65 Saturday night to stop a two-game skid.
It was Hervey's 29th career double-double, tying him with Paul Renfro (1976-80) for the most in program history.
Hervey, who averages 22.9 points a game, was 13 of 25 from the floor. Kaelon Wilson added 21 points with five assists and Nathan Hawkins chipped in 16, nailing 4 of 6 from distance.
UT Arlington (8-3) sprinted to a 10-0 lead. UTRGV got its first points on Dan Kimasa's layup five minutes into the game. The Mavericks, who led throughout, took a 39-29 lead into the break and won the second half 47-36.
UT Arlington shot 47 percent (34-73) from the floor while limiting the Vaqueros to 23-of-61 (38 percent) shooting. The Mavericks also won the rebound battle 53-38.
Greg Bowie had 17 points and Nick Dixon added 15 with nine rebounds for UTRGV (6-7).
Gant has 1st double-double to lead Louisiana to 87-65 win
LAFAYETTE, La. -- JaKeenan Gant scored 21 points while pulling down 11 rebounds to help lead Louisiana to its sixth straight win, an 87-65 victory over New Orleans on Saturday night.
Louisiana (9-2), which is 5-0 at home, has won nine of its last 10 games.
Gant, who had his first career double-double, hit 8 of 13 field-goal attempts while grabbing six offensive rebounds. Frank Bartley IV had 19 points, all in the second half, for the Ragin' Cajuns. Bryce Washington added 12 points with six assists and Marcus Stroman and Malik Marquetti chipped in 10 apiece.
Louisiana took a 42-35 lead into the break. Bartley hit a 3 for his first points of the game as the Ragin' Cajuns started the second half on a 16-8 run to push their lead to 58-43 and cruised to the win.
Travin Thibodeaux led New Orleans (2-7) with 23 points.
Lindsey's basket lifts Arkansas State over FAU 64-63
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Rashad Lindsey's basket at the buzzer lifted Arkansas State to a 64-63 victory over Florida Atlantic on Saturday night.
Deven Simms got the Red Wolves within a point, 63-62, with a basket with 32 seconds remaining and Lindsey made a steal with 19 seconds left. Ty Cockfield missed a layup but got the rebound before Lindsey, who shot only 2 of 10, put in a floater.
Simms finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds for his third career double-double to lead Arkansas State (4-7). Cockfield added 16 points.
The Owls (6-4) had a four-game win streak snapped. The streak was the longest under coach Michael Curry in his four seasons. Ronald Delph had 16 points and seven rebounds for FAU. Gerdarius Troutman made three 3-pointers and scored 15 points with Anthony Adger adding 13.
Arkansas State had a 10-point lead with 3 1/2 minutes left in the first half but then outscored 10-0 with the final eight points of the half coming from Troutman.
The game stayed tight in the second half with FAU holding a four-point lead twice. FAU used a 7-2 run to lead 63-60 with 45 seconds to go.
Macon scores 25 to lead Arkansas past Troy, 88-63
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Daryl Macon had one final chance to impress his friends and family in central Arkansas.
The Arkansas senior made sure to leave a lasting impression, scoring 25 points in an 88-63 win over Troy on Saturday night.
Macon hit five 3-pointers for the Razorbacks (8-2), who have now won three straight and are nearing their first ranking since the end of the 2014-15 season. He also finished 8 of 14 from the field while scoring his second highest total of the season, nearly matching the 27 points he had in a win over Oklahoma on Nov. 23.
The game marked Arkansas' annual visit to central Arkansas, three hours away from its campus in Fayetteville. It was held in North Little Rock's Verizon Arena, which is just across the Arkansas River from where Macon grew up in Little Rock.
The 6-foot-3 guard looked right at home, even if he wasn't sure exactly how many of his friends and family were there to watch.
"I really have no idea (how many)," Macon said. "I looked up there and saw a bunch of them, and I guess they were my family. I don't think I've met them yet."
Macon was particularly impressive in the first half when Arkansas fell behind by as many as six points in the opening minutes. He scored eight straight points at one point, keying an 18-2 run that put the Razorbacks firmly in control. They shot 62 percent (18 of 29) in the first half and were never threatened in the second.
North Little Rock native Anton Beard also performed well in his final game in central Arkansas for the Razorbacks, scoring 11 points. Freshman Daniel Gafford added 10 points and three blocks in 24 minutes of action for Arkansas, which matched its Southeastern Conference-leading scoring average of 88.1 points per game.
Macon and Jaylen Barford each had five assists to lead the Razorbacks, who had assists on 19 of their 34 baskets in the game.
"Macon had a big night coming home, and you really enjoy seeing that take place," Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. "The thing I like about it is he did other things, too."
Wesley Person scored 25 points to lead the Trojans (5-6), who lost by only eight points at No. 8 Kentucky earlier in the season.
Alex Hicks added 16 points and 10 rebounds, but Troy had no answers while playing its fourth straight game without injured forward Jordon Varnado -- who is averaging 19 points per game.
"(Arkansas is) not a good team to play when you're not at full strength, which we aren't right now," Troy coach Phil Cunningham said.
South Alabama defense frustrates Eastern Illinois, 63-52
MOBILE, Ala. -- Herb McGee scored 15 points and South Alabama snapped a two-game losing streak by keeping Eastern Illinois winless on the road, beating the Panthers 63-52 Saturday.
The win was the Jaguars first against Eastern Illinois in three meetings.
Looking to improve its perimeter defense, South Alabama limited the Panthers to just 4 of 15 shooting from distance and 21 of 65 shooting overall (32.3 percent) from the field.
Jordan Andrews took a feed from McGee and scored on a layup to push the South Alabama lead to 18 points, 57-39 with under six minutes to play. Eastern Illinois rallied, and was able to get the deficit under 10 points on Ray Crossland's jumper with :13 left in the game.
Trhae Mitchell finished with nine points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Jaguars.
Crossland had 17 points for Eastern Illinois (2-7) which is now are 0-7 on the road.
Coastal Carolina downs NAIA Montreat 83-70
CONWAY, S.C. -- Jaylen Shaw scored 23 points, Zac Cuthbertson finished with 22 and the two combined to shoot 14 of 20 from the field as Coastal Carolina beat NAIA Montreat College 83-70 on Saturday.
Shaw was 7 of 9 from both the field and free-throw line, while Cuthbertson was 7 of 11 from the field and 6 of 8 from the line. Cuthbertson added 10 rebounds and five assists.
Demario Beck added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Chanticleers (6-5) and Artur Labinowicz scored 10 with nine rebounds. Coastal Carolina had 48-33 rebounding edge with 12 coming on the offensive end.
Shaw, Cuthbertson and Matt Lindsey each made 3s to start the game and the Chanticleers never trailed. Artur Labonowicz' 3-pointer with 10:34 left before halftime made it 21-9.
David Caldwell led the Cavaliers with 15 points, Zach Davis scored 14 and Jeron Hemphill and Ej Reed each added 10 points. Hemphill also had seven rebounds, four steals and four assists.
Cunningham leads Dayton to 88-83 win in OT over Georgia St.
DAYTON, Ohio -- Josh Cunningham sank the go-ahead free throws and finished with a career-high 29 points while grabbing 18 rebounds to help Dayton slip past Georgia State in overtime for an 88-83 win on Saturday.
Dayton (5-5) used a 7-0 burst fueled with Cunningham's dunk followed by his go-ahead free throws and capped by a 3-pointer from Jordan Davis to make it 82-78 with just over a minute to play. The Flyers then went 6 for 6 from the line over the final 20 seconds to seal it.
Cunningham hit 8 of 9 from the field and made 13 of 17 free-throw attempts. Darrell Davis added five 3-pointers and was 7 for 9 from the line for 22 points, Jordan Davis had 12 points, John Crosby 11 and Trey Landers 10 for Dayton.
Georgia State (7-4) forced overtime with a layup from D'Marcus Simonds with three seconds to go in regulation to tie the game at 75 and then opened OT with a 3-pointer from Devin Mitchel for its only lead of the extra period.
Mitchell led the Panthers with a career-high 28 points, including six 3-pointers, Simonds finished with 21 points and Isaiah Williams had 15.
It was the first meeting between the programs.
Ohio State beats Appalachian State 80-67
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A delay and evacuation after a fire alarm couldn't deter Ohio State from winning its fourth straight game when Jae'Sean Tate scored 19 points in an 80-67 win against Appalachian State at Value City Arena on Saturday.
Keita Bates-Diop added 18 points, Kaleb Wesson had 16, and Kam Williams 11 for the Buckeyes (9-3), who also opened the season with four consecutive victories.
A warning siren went off with Ohio State ahead 48-33 with 17:47 left in the second half and Appalachia State's Ronshad Shabazz at the free throw line, and an announcement was made to the crowd of 12,616 to clear the building.
The teams retreated to their locker rooms.
"We didn't know what was going on. We were in shock," Wesson said.
It was determined that the failure of an exhaust fan in a concessions stand set off the fire alarm. The all-clear was given after nine minutes and play resumed after about 16 minutes.
"Just your typical college basketball game here tonight," Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann joked, before adding that the game took a backseat at the moment to the security of the fans and the players.
Appalachian State immediately scored six straight points when play resumed, but the Buckeyes put the game away with a 9-0 run to make it 67-47 before the Mountaineers made a late push.
Ronshad Shabazz scored 15 points and Delaware, Ohio, native Griffin Kinney had 14 for the Mountaineers (5-7) in their third straight defeat.
Appalachian State was averaging 87.6 points per game but were blanketed by the Buckeyes' defense into 3 for 19 (15.8 percent) shooting from 3-point range.
"They completely took us out of the way we played," Mountaineers coach Jim Fox said. "Our guys are not a selfish team but our players were selfish today with the lack of ball movement."
CSU Bakersfield beats Georgia Southern 55-53 behind Holden
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Rickey Holden scored 16 points, including two free throws with 10 seconds left, and CSU Bakersfield beat Georgia Southern 55-53 on Saturday night to win its third straight.
Brent Wrapp put CSUB up 42-41 with a free throw and Holden added a 3 for a 47-43 lead. The Eagles closed to 51-49 on Mike Hughes' 3-pointer and he tied it at 53 with a 3-point play with 14 seconds left.
Georgia Southern's David-Lee Jones Jr. and Montae Glenn each missed a shot on the final possession.
Moatz Aly added 13 for the Roadrunners (7-6), who shot 35.2 percent from the field to 31.5 percent for the Eagles.
Tookie Brown's layup put Georgia Southern up 28-27 at the break.
Glenn scored 13 points, Quan Jackson had 11, and Hughes 10 for the Eagles (8-3), who saw their three-game win streak end.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17
Colorado State holds off Texas State 66-58
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Anthony Bonner scored 17 points, Prentiss Nixonadded 15 points and Colorado State beat Texas State 66-58 on Sunday.
Nixon was 2-for-12 shooting from the field but made up for it at the free-throw line with 10 straight makes. Both teams struggled from the field as Colorado State (5-6) shot 41 percent and the Bobcats were 17 for 45 (38).
The Rams led 42-31 at halftime before Texas State (5-6) used a 13-6 run and closed within four after a pair of Isaiah Gurley free throws. With 3:45 left, Nijal Pearson made a 3 and Texas State closed to 58-55.
Deion James converted a 3-point play off a layup for the Rams, and Shelby Adams responded with a 3 with 2:29 left but the Bobcats never scored again.
Pearson led Texas State with 14 points, Alex Peacock had 13 and Gurley 10.