Georgia State gets back to winning ways and beats Little Rock
ATLANTA -- D'Marcus Simonds scored 11 of his 19 points from the free-throw line, Jeff Thomas scored 16 and Georgia State beat Little Rock 73-64 on Thursday night to snap a two-game skid.

Jaizec Lottie made a 3 and a layup and Little Rock trailed 53-52 with 6:40 remaining, but Thomas and Kane Williams converted back-to-back 3-point plays and the Trojans never got closer than four the rest of the way.

Georgia State led 35-31 at halftime. Devin Mitchell added 12 points and Jordan Session scored 11 with nine rebounds for the Panthers (10-6, 1-2 Sun Belt).

Camron Reedus led Little Rock (4-12, 1-2) with 19 points with five 3-pointers and Lottie scored 10.

Little Rock's game in Georgia marked the eighth different state the Trojans have already played in this season.

Brown, Glenn help Georgia Southern beat Arkansas State 80-49
STATESBORO, Ga. -- Tookie Brown had 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals and Montae Glenn had his sixth double-double of the season to help Georgia Southern beat Arkansas State 80-49 on Thursday night.

Glenn made 7 of 9 from the field and finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Quan Jackson also scored 14 points, on 6-of-10 shooting, for Georgia Southern (11-5, 2-1 Sun Belt).

Jackson converted a 4-point play and then threw down a two-handed fast-break dunk to make it 6-0 and the Eagles never trailed. Brown and Jake Allsmiller hit back-to-back 3s to cap a 10-2 spurt that made it 18-6 and Georgia Southern scored 13 straight points, while Arkansas State missed five straight field-goal attempts, to give the Eagles a 31-9 lead with nine minutes left in the first half. The Red Wolves (6-10, 1-2) trailed by double figures the rest of the way.

Deven Simms and Ty Cockfield had 10 points apiece for Arkansas State. The Red Wolves shot 34 percent (20 of 58) from the field, including 4 of 27 from 3-point range, and 36 percent (5 of 14) from the free-throw line.

Georgia Southern scored 23 points off 16 Arkansas State turnovers and outscored the Red Wolves 48-30 in the paint.

McDaniel's 3s lifts UL Monroe past Coastal Carolina 82-72
MONROE, La. -- Sam McDaniel scored a career-high 28 points and made all six of his 3-pointers and free throws and Louisiana Monroe defeated Coastal Carolina 82-72 on Thursday night.

Louisiana Monroe (7-7, 1-2 Sun Belt Conference) built a 20-4 lead with the help of three 3-pointers from McDaniel and another from Jordon Harris who scored 15 points.

The Warhawks built a 37-21 halftime lead and extended the lead to 52-30 with a Harris layup with 13:10 remaining. An Arthur Labinowicz 3 with 3:43 left capped a 13-7 run and brought Coastal Carolina within 66-58 before McDaniel made another 3.

Demario Beck had a layup for the Chanticleers, but Brandon Newman followed with a 3-point play and Louisiana Monroe led by double figures the rest of the way. Newman made both his field-goal attempts and all seven free throw tries for 12 points.

Jaylen Shaw led Coastal Carolina (7-9, 1-2) with 16 points, Beck scored 14 with nine rebounds, Labinowicz scored 14 and Zac Cuthbertson and Ajay Sanderseach scored 13.

Louisiana 3-0 in Sun Belt, beats Appalachian State 78-45
LAFAYETTE, La. -- Frank Bartley IV scored 16 points, Bryce Washington added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Louisiana remained undefeated to open Sun Belt Conference play with a 78-45 rout of Appalachian State on Thursday night.

Louisiana has won three straight since losing 89-60 at Clemson on Dec. 22, snapping a seven-game win streak. The Ragin' Cajuns (13-3, 3-0) took the lead for good with 13:45 to play in the first half and built a 46-17 halftime advantage.

Appalachian State (7-9, 2-1) missed 7 of its 8 field goals in the final nine minutes before the break.

Bartley made five 3s and Washington was 5-of-9 shooting from the field. Malik Marquetti chipped in 10 points for Louisiana.

Justin Forrest scored 12 points and Tyrell Johnson added 10 for the Mountaineers, who were just 3-of-20 shooting from long range.

Neal, Hervey lead UT Arlington to 86-76 win over Troy
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Erick Neal and Kevin Hervey combined for 40 points as UT Arlington rolled over Troy 86-76 to get its first Sun Belt Conference win of the season on Thursday night.

Neal had 21 points with seven assists and Hervey added 19 points with eight rebounds for UT Arlington (10-6, 1-2). Kaelon Wilson scored 16 and grabbed 10 rebounds -- his sixth career double-double.

Troy started hot and took an early lead before the Mavericks countered to take a 40-33 lead into the break. There were nine lead changes but those were all in the first half as UTA controlled the second period.

The Mavericks scored 18 points off 12 Troy turnovers and shot 52 percent (35 of 67) from the field while limiting the Trojans to 25-of-62 (40 percent) shooting.

Alex Hicks led Troy (7-9, 1-2) with 21 points and Wesley Person added 17.

Peacock, Texas State hold off South Alabama 72-69
SAN MARCOS, Texas -- Alex Peacock scored 18 points and his layup with 26 seconds remaining preserved Texas State's 72-69 win against South Alabama on Thursday night.

Rodrick Sikes made two free throws to narrow South Alabama's deficit to 70-69 before Peacock's layup. Texas State called timeout and Sikes missed a 3-point attempt. The Jaguars got the offensive rebound but Josh Ajayi missed his attempt.

Nick Davis then fouled Peacock to send him to the free-throw line and he missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Davis grabbed the rebound with 11 seconds left but Sikes missed another 3 attempt to end the game.

Immanuel King scored 16 points and Nijal Pearson added 12 for Texas State (9-7, 2-1 Sun Belt Conference). Peacock, King and Pearson combined to shoot 18 of 29, but the rest of the Bobcats missed 23 of 33 shots. Texas State has won four of its last five.

Ajayi led South Alabama (8-7, 2-1) with 25 points and Sikes scored 18.