Saturday, January 2
New Orleans 68, FIU 58
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Billy Humphrey scored 29 points, including a 3-pointer that put New Orleans ahead to stay in a 68-58 victory over Florida International on Saturday.
Humphrey, in his second game back with the Privateers (6-9, 1/3 Sun Belt) after missing two games with a knee injury, was 4-for-7 on 3-pointers, including one with 6:42 to play that gave New Orleans a 61-58 lead.
The Golden Panthers (4-13, 1-3), who never led and trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, cut their deficit to 41-30 by halftime and scored the first eight points of the second half to get back into the game.
Charles Carmouche added 18 points for New Orleans, which ended a seven-game losing streak.
Marvin Roberts and Marlon Bright scored 13 points apiece for Florida International, and Stephon Weaver broke a school record for consecutive free throws by hitting both his attempts to give him 19 in a row.
Louisiana-Monroe 68, UALR 64
MONROE, La. (AP) - Tony Hooper scored a season-high 28 points, including eight 3-pointers, and Louisiana-Monroe beat Arkansas-Little Rock 68-64 on Saturday.
Hooper's threes were the most in the Sun Belt Conference this season and tied for the second-most in school history. Dynile Forbes added 12 points for the Warhawks (6,9, 1-3), who have won three of their past four games.
The Warhawks went on a 10-0 run to take a 66-59 lead on a jumper by Hooper with 1:09 to play. The Trojans (4-11, 0-4) responded with five straight to cut the lead to 66-64 on a basket by Solomon Bozeman with 25 seconds remaining. Forbes hit two free throws for the Warhawks with 13 seconds left to ice the game.
It was the sixth straight loss for the Trojans, with four of those defeats coming by eight points or less.
Matt Mouzy led the Trojans with 19 points. Bozeman added 17 and Alex Mendoza-Garcia had 10.
Middle Tennessee 68, Louisiana-Lafayette 58
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) - James Washington scored 23 points to pace Middle Tennessee to a 68-58 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday night.
Washington also dished out five assists for the Blue Raiders (7-6, 2-0 Sun Belt Conference), who have now won four straight. J.T. Sulton chipped in with 11 points.
Trailing by six points, Tyren Johnson made 1 of 2 free throws for the Ragin' Cajuns to cut Middle Tennessee's lead to 59-54 with 3:47 remaining. But the Blue Raiders would respond with a quick 8-0 run, giving themselves a 67-54 advantage with 1:51 left in the game.
Chris Gradnigo scored 23 points to lead Louisiana-Lafayette (4-10, 1-2), who are on a five-game losing streak. Johnson added 10 points.
Middle Tennessee outrebounded the Ragin' Cajuns 37-24, and won the game despite turning the ball over 20 times.
South Alabama 96, Florida Atlantic 93 (OT)
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - Tim Williams scored 23 points to lead South Alabama to a 96-93 overtime victory over Florida Atlantic on Saturday night.
Bryan Sherrer added 21 points for the Jaguars (11-4, 3-0 Sun Belt Conference), who have won three in a row. Allyn Cooks also contributed 20 points.
Trailing 85-80 with 24 seconds left in regulation, Williams nailed a 3 to cut the Owls' lead to two. Raymond Taylor was then fouled, but made only 1 of 2 free throws. Williams then hit another 3 to tie the game at 86 with 17 seconds left to force overtime.
In the overtime period, South Alabama went on an 8-2 run and took a 96-91 lead with 27 seconds remaining to secure the win.
Brett Royster scored 20 points to lead Florida Atlantic (5-9, 1-2), which has lost five straight. Freshman Raymond Taylor added 18 points and a career-high 13 assists.
Arkansas State 71, North Texas 56
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) - Brandon Reed scored 25 points to lead Arkansas State to a 71-56 victory over North Texas Saturday night.
Martavius Adams added 16 points for the Red Wolves (7-6, 2-1 Sun Belt), and Rashad Allison had 12.
Tristan Thompson scored 18 points to lead North Texas (9-5, 2-2). George Odufuwa added 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Early North Texas turnovers helped the Red Wolves build a 12-2 lead in the first four minutes. Arkansas State did not relinquish the lead and took a 32-22 cushion into the break.
After a basket by Thompson made it 45-33, Arkansas exploded for a 13-5 run capped by a dunk by Adams on a fast break with 8:45 left.
North Texas never got any closer than 14-points the rest of the game. The Mean Green were held to a season-low 33-percent shooting. Their 56 points were also a season-low.
Troy 64, Denver 46
TROY, Ala. (AP) - Brandon Hazzard scored 23 points as Troy remained unbeaten in Sun Belt Conference play with a 64-46 victory over Denver on Saturday night.
Richard Delk added 16 points for the Trojans (8-6, 3-0), including eight during an 18-4 run at the start of the second half that turned a 24-23 Pioneers halftime lead into a 41-28 Troy lead with 12:12 to play.
Denver (10-5, 3-1) turned the ball over six times in that stretch, leading to eight of Troy's points. For the game, Troy scored 13 points off 11 Denver turnovers, while the Pioneers scored just two points off eight turnovers by the Trojans.
Delk had five steals for Troy, which shot 56.5 percent (13-for-23) in the second half. Denver shot a season-low 39.1 percent (18-for-46) for the game.
Andrew Hooper and Nate Rohnert scored nine points each and Rob Lewis eight to lead Denver.
