Troy 89, Appalachian State 85
Troy, Ala. – Troy hit 10 consecutive free throws over the final 52 seconds to hold off a furious Appalachian State comeback for an 89-85 victory in Sun Belt Conference men's basketball action inside of Trojan Arena on Saturday evening. The Trojans (8-6, 1-1 SBC) tied a program record with 13 blocked shots and posted 19 assists on 32 made shots to win their first Sun Belt game of the season. Senior Jordon Varnado returned to action and scored a game-high 27 points on 8-of-12 (66 percent) shooting from the field including a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. Varnado added eight rebounds, a season-high six assists, a pair of blocks and a steal to his stat line. 

ULM 85, Arkansas State 75
MONROE, La. – Daishon Smith made four 3-pointers and scored 24 points and Louisiana-Monroe defeated Arkansas State 85-75 on Saturday. Michael Ertel was only 4-of-14 shooting but made all 10 of free throws in scoring 19 points with six assists. Travis Munnings and J.D. Williams each made three from the arc in scoring 18 points each for the Warhawks (9-5, 2-0 Sun Belt), who improved to 7-0 at home.

Georgia Southern 77, UTA 64
ARLINGTON, Texas – Quan Jackson tallied 21 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Georgia Southern held UTA to 31 percent shooting in the second half to earn a 77-64 Sun Belt men's basketball victory over the Mavericks Saturday afternoon in the College Park Center

South Alabama 84, Coastal Carolina 77 (2ot)
MOBILE, Ala. – Trhae Mitchell had 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists and South Alabama pulled away in the second overtime to beat Coastal Carolina 84-77 on Saturday. Kory Holden added 16 points and scored the go-ahead points for the Jaguars (9-6, 2-0 Sun Belt Conference) on a 3-pointer that made it 78-75 with 3:06 left in the game. Zac Cuthbertson cut the deficit to one for the Chanticleers (7-7, 1-1), but Holden hit another jumper and Mitchell scored the final four points.

Georgia State 73, Texas State 69
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Led by 22 points from senior Malik Benlevi, Georgia State earned a 73-69 win over Texas State on Saturday night at Strahan Arena to sweep the Texas swing to open Sun Belt play. Georgia State (11-4, 2-0 Sun Belt), won for the sixth time in seven games and for the 15th-straight time in the month of January. The Panthers won for the fourth-straight time over Texas State (12-3, 1-1 Sun Belt) and for the fifth-straight time in Strahan Arena.

Louisiana 75, Little Rock 61
LAFAYETTE, La. – Louisiana’s JaKeenan Gant posted a double-double, scoring a career-high 45 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in leading the Ragin’ Cajuns to a 75-61 victory over Little Rock in a Sun Belt Conference game on Saturday at the Cajundome, Gant, who became the first Ragin’ Cajun to score 40 points in a game since Andrew Toney scored 46 against Auburn in 1979, equaled the 45-point effort set by legendary guard Dwight “Bo” Lamar in 1972 for the 11^th-best scoring performance in school history for Louisiana (10-5, 1-1 SBC).