Hervey leads top seed UTA into Sun Belt semifinals
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Conference player of the year Kevin Hervey scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead top seed UTA to a 74-51 victory over No. 8 seed Coastal Carolina on Friday in the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals.
The Mavericks (25-7) will play the winner of No. 4 seed Texas State and 12th-seeded ULM in a Saturday semifinal.
Jorge Bilbao added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Jalen Jones 12 points.
Jaylen Shaw scored 14 points and Artur Labinowicz 12 for the Chanticleers (16-17).
An 8-0 run gave UTA the lead for good late in the first half and the Mavericks led 29-27 at the break.
Hervey strung together all three of his 3-pointers to give the Mavericks a 57-44 lead with four minutes remaining with UTA pulling away in the final 2½ minutes by scoring 15 straight points, 11 on free throws.
The teams split their regular-season matchups.
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Pearson leads Texas State into Sun Belt semifinals
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Nijal Pearson had 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals and No. 4 Texas State defeated No. 12 seed ULM 63-51 on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament.
The Bobcats (19-12) will take on top-seeded UTA, a 74-51 winner over Coastal Carolina earlier Friday, in a semifinal on Saturday.
Travis Munnings scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Marcus Washington scored 15 points for the Warhawks (9-24), who upset No. 5 seed Arkansas State in the first round. ULM shot 36 percent, 12 percent less than Texas State, and made just 5 of 26 from the arc.
The Bobcats were trailing by five before scoring the final 15 points of the first half to go into the break leading 30-20. Texas State then scored the first 12 points of the second half to lead by 22 and the Warhawks didn't get any closer than the final score.
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Georgia State beats Louisiana in Sun Belt quarters
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — D'Marcus Simonds scored 17 points, Jeremy Hollowell added 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and second-seeded Georgia State beat Louisiana 86-76 in Friday's quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Malik Benlevi scored 15 and Isaiah Williams had 14 for the Panthers (20-11), who snapped the Ragin' Cajuns' seven-game win streak and will face either No. 3 Georgia Southern (18-13) or No. 6 Troy (19-14) in Saturday's semifinals.
Trailing by 15 early in the second half, Louisiana closed to 66-60 on Jerekius Davis' jumper, but Georgia State took a 10-point lead with 1:47 left on Isaiah Dennis' layup. Jay Wright's jumper cut the deficit to eight with 54 seconds left, but Louisiana got no closer.
Devin Mitchell's free throw put the Panthers up for good, 14-13, and Georgia State led 35-26 at halftime.
The Panthers outscored the Ragin' Cajuns 36-28 in paint, outrebounded them 44-31, and held them to 38-percent shooting from the field.
Wright scored 27 for the seventh-seeded Ragin' Cajuns (21-12).
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Troy beats Georgia Southern in Sun Belt quarters
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Wesley Person hit seven 3-pointers and scored 26 points and sixth-seeded Troy beat No. 3 seed Georgia Southern 90-70 in Friday night's Sun Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinal.
Troy (20-14) advances to the tourney semifinals for the first since 2010, and will play No. 2 seed Georgia State (20-11) on Saturday.
Jordon Varnado added 26 points and Jeremy Hollimon chipped in 17 for the Trojans, who shot 60 percent from the floor and 14 of 22 from behind the arc.
Varnado and Person combined for five 3-pointers and scored Troy's first 17 points, and the Trojans led 32-20 on Kevin Baker's 3 with 5:58 left in the first half. Person hit his fifth 3-pointer and the Trojans led 44-26 at halftime.
The Eagles were scoreless for 3:15 while Troy built a 23-point lead with 12:32 left and the Trojans were never threatened the rest of the way.
Ike Smith scored 21 for Georgia Southern (18-14).