Thursday, January 7

WKU 67, South Alabama 64 (OT)
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - A.J. Slaughter scored 18 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime, as Western Kentucky defeated South Alabama 67-64 on Thursday night.

Steffphon Pettigrew added 16 points, hitting two free throws with 17 seconds left to seal the win for the Hilltoppers (9-4, 2-0 Sun Belt Conference), who snapped the Jaguars' three-game winning streak.

The game was tied 12 times with 18 lead changes.

South Alabama (11-5, 3-1) led 52-47 with 7:49 left, but the Hilltoppers used an 8-2 run to pull ahead. A Tim Williams layup gave South Alabama a 62-60 lead with 14 seconds left in regulation, then Pettigrew tied it with a layup. Williams missed a 3 with 1 second left to force overtime.

Bryan Sherrer gave the Jaguars a 64-62 lead with 3:28 remaining, but they did not score again.

Williams scored 18 to lead the Jaguars and Martino Brock had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Louisiana-Lafayette 74, North Texas 72
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - Tyren Johnson scored 20 points and Louisiana Lafayette defeated North Texas 74-72 on Thursday.

Chris Gradnigo added 18 points, Randell Daigle had 14 and Johnson had two steals and two blocks for the Ragin' Cajuns (4-11, 1/3 Sun Belt Conference).

The Ragin' Cajuns scored 28 points off 22 turnovers and held the Mean Green to 34.8 percent shooting in the first half (8 of 23).

Daigle hit a 3-pointer to put Louisiana-Lafayette up 69-62 with 1:13 remaining. The Mean Green (9-6, 2-3) pulled within 72-70 on a 3 by Josh White with 12 seconds left, but couldn't pull ahead.

Daigle sealed the win for the Ragin' Cajuns on two free throws with 10 seconds left.

George Odufuwa had a double-double for North Texas, scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

Shannon Shorter, White and Richard Thomas scored 14 points each and Tristan Thomas added 11 for the Mean Green.

Florida Atlantic 83, Troy 69
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - Freshman Greg Gantt tied his career high with 24 points and two Florida Atlantic players tallied double-doubles in an 83-69 win over Troy on Thursday night.

Sanchez Hughley set career bests in points (19) and rebounds (11) for the Owls (6-9, 2-2 Sun Belt Conference), who lost both games against Troy last season. Brett Royster added 14 points and freshman Raymond Taylor finished with 11 points and 12 assists.

Leading 15-11 early in the first half, FAU put together a 13-4 run during a four-minute span and never looked back. The Owls led 48-29 at halftime.

Gantt hit a career-high six 3-pointers for the Owls, who nailed 10 of 23 shots from beyond the arc.

Richard Delk led the Trojans (8-7, 3-1) with 12 points, while Yamene Coleman scored 10 and grabbed 13 boards.

Troy, which saw its all-time series advantage drop to 17-7, had a two-game winning streak snapped.

FIU 62, Louisiana-Monroe 56
MIAMI (AP) - Marvin Roberts scored 12 points as Florida International defeated Louisiana Monroe 62-56 on Thursday night.

J.C. Otero's 3-pointer with 4:42 remaining put the Golden Panthers (5-13, 2/3 Sun Belt Conference) ahead 54-50 and keyed a 9-0 run. Roberts ended the run with a 3-pointer for a 59-50 advantage with 2:19 remaining.

Otero finished with 11 points.

The Warhawks (6-10, 1-4) rallied from a 12-point deficit with an 11-0 run during a 1:49 span midway through the second half. Colby Carr's field goal with 10:26 remaining capped the run and cut the Golden Panthers' lead to 46-45.

Louisiana Monroe's Dynile Ford hit a 3-pointer and tied it at 50 with 7:08 left.

Rudy Turner led the Warhawks with 13 points.

Florida International ran off eight unanswered points, keyed by six straight by Martavis Key, for a 24-17 lead with 5:15 remaining in the first half.

Arkansas State 69, Middle Tennessee 67
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) - Rashad Allison scored 15 points to lead Arkansas State past Middle Tennessee State 69-67 Thursday night.

Brandon Peterson and Brandon Reed added 13 points each for the Red Wolves (8-7, 3-1 Sun Belt). Trey Finn grabbed 10 rebounds to go with eight points.

Montarrio Haddock scored a game-high 24 points to lead Middle Tennessee State (7-8, 2-1). Rod Emanuel had 20 points and Desmond Yates added 10 for the Blue Raiders.

The game was close for all 40 minutes, with 14 ties and 11 lead changes. No team led by more than six points, an advantage Arkansas State held with 11:40 left in the first half.

Middle Tennessee's largest lead was five points with just over nine minutes remaining in the game.

Arkansas State shot 46.3 percent and held the Blue Raiders to 41.8 percent. The Red Hawks led 33-31 at halftime.

Denver 75, New Orleans 66
DENVER (AP) - Nate Rohnert scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half, and Denver fended off New Orleans 75-66 Thursday night.

Brian Stafford had 15 points and Rob Lewis and Sabatino Chen added 11 points each for Denver (11-5, 4-1 Sun Belt). Denver won its 10th straight home game since a season-opening loss to Northern Iowa.

Carl Blair and Charles Carmouche had 16 points each to lead New Orleans (6-10, 1-4), which lost its 12th consecutive league game on the road.

New Orleans' Billy Humphrey, who entered as the conference's second-leading scorer with an average of 18.3 points, played just eight minutes in his third game back from a knee injury. He was limited to three points, all on free throws.Monday, January 4

Monday, January 4

WKU 55, Mississippi State 52
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) - Steffphon Pettigrew scored 17 points to propel Western Kentucky to a 55-52 win over Mississippi State on Monday night, ending the Bulldogs' nine-game winning streak.

After trailing since early in the second half, Jarvis Varnado's dunk pulled the Bulldogs within 53-52 with 51 seconds left. But he missed a go-ahead jumper with 5 seconds left, Anthony Sally grabbed the rebound and sank two free throws to seal it for the Hilltoppers.

Sally finished with 11 points for the Hilltoppers (8-4), and was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Western Kentucky finished 12 of 16 from the stripe (75 percent).

The Bulldogs hit just 14 of 27 foul shots (51.9 percent).

Western Kentucky trailed by three at halftime, but opened the second on a decisive 13-4 run.

Varnado led the Bulldogs (12-3) with 17 points and Dee Bost added 13.

Vanderbilt 73, Middle Tennessee 53
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Jeffery Taylor scored 14 points to lead Vanderbilt to a 73-53 win over Middle Tennessee on Monday night.

It was the fifth straight victory for the Commodores (11-3) and was also head coach Kevin Stallings' 200th victory at Vanderbilt. Stallings, who is 200-131 in his 11th season, trails Roy Skinner (278) for most wins in school history.

Middle Tennessee (7-7) cut the lead to 46-36 with 17:15 to go. But Vanderbilt responded with an 11-2 run that gave the Commodores a 57-38 lead with 11:41 left. The Blue Raiders never got closer than 12 points after that, snapping their four-game winning streak.

John Jenkins scored 13 points, Jermaine Beal had 11 and Festus Ezeli and A.J. Ogilvy each added 10 for Vanderbilt, which begins Southeastern Conference play Saturday at home against Florida.

Desmond Yates scored 14 points and James Washington had 13 for Middle Tennessee.

Lamar 87, Arkansas State 68
BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) - Charlie Harper scored 23 points and Justin Nabors recorded his sixth double-double of the season as Lamar beat Arkansas State 87-68 Monday night.

Nabors finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds while Kendrick Harris added 17 points for the Cardinals (8-7), who won their fourth straight.

Brandon Peterson scored 21 points to lead the Red Wolves (7-7) and Trey Finn had 14.

Lamar shot a season-high 53.8 percent and scored its most points this season. The Cardinals also committed a season-low eight turnovers.

Lamar fell behind by five early but took a 41-33 lead into halftime. The Cardinals extended their lead to as many as 24 in the second half.