Saturday, January 16

WKU 81, FIU 64
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) - Steffphon Pettigrew had 16 points and Cliff Dixon posted his first career double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds as Western Kentucky defeated Florida International 81-64 on Saturday night.

After Florida International (6-15, 3-5 Sun Belt Conference) had a 15-6 run to cut the Western Kentucky lead to one, the Hilltoppers (11-5, 4-1) used a 30-2 run to lead 53-24.

The highlight of the run came in the closing seconds of the first half when Caden Dickerson stole an inbounds pass and hit a buzzer-beating basket for a 38-22 halftime score.

Jeremy Evans and A.J. Slaughter each had 13 points for Western Kentucky.

The Hilltoppers, who led by as many as 34 points early in the second half, finished 24-for-33 from the free throw line and the Golden Panthers were 6-for-14.

Marvin Roberts had 18 points off the bench for Florida International and Stephon Weaver had 13.

Louisiana-Monroe 64, Denver 53
MONROE, La. (AP) - Rudy Turner scored 19 points and Louisiana-Monroe defeated Denver 64-53 on Saturday.

The Warhawks (8-11, 3-5 Sun Belt Conference), who trailed by as many as 13-4 with 13:30 to go in the first half, rallied to a 28-28 tie at halftime. Louisiana-Monroe used two runs to pull away from the Pioneers (12-7, 5-3).

The Warhawks scored five straight points to lead 33-28 on Turner's layup 2:01 into the second half.

Denver tied the game at 35-35 on Chase Hallam's 3 with 16 minutes remaining, but the Warhawks scored eight straight to pull away. Dynile Forbes' free throws gave Louisiana-Monroe a 43-35 lead with 11:09 left.

Tony Hooper scored 14 points for the Warhawks and Tommie Sykes added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Forbes had five steals for Louisiana-Monroe, which improved to 7-2 at home.

Hallam had 13 points and Brian Stafford added 12 for the Pioneers.

Arkansas State 83, North Texas 70
DENTON, Texas (AP) - Brandon reed's 18 points helped lead Arkansas State defeat North Texas 83-70 in Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday night.

Reed was 3 of 13 from the field and made 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Daniel Bryant was an efficient 3 of 3 from beyond the arc and 4 of 5 from the field for his 13 points. Jeremy Thomas added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Red Wolves (10-7, 5-1).

The Mean Green (11-7, 4-4) were by George Odufuwa's 16 points and game-high 12 rebounds. Tristan Thompson was a perfect 7 of 7 from the free-throw line and had 14 points.

The Red Wolves shot 59.3 percent from the field (32 for 54), while the Mean Green made just 40.7 percent (22-54).

The Red Wolves led 38-32 at half and grew the lead to as many 19 with 1:25 left in the game.

UALR 76, Louisiana-Lafayette 69
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Solomon Bozeman's 18 points helped Arkansas-Little Rock defeat Louisiana-Lafayette 76-69 in Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday night.

Alex Garcia-Mendoza had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Trojans (4-13, 1-6), who earned their first win in conference play. Nelson Stewart had 14 points.

Chris Gradnigo lead the Ragin' Cajuns (6-11, 3-3) with 23 points. He was 10 of 21 from the field. Tyren Johnson complied a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

This tightly contested game featured eight ties and nine lead changes. The Trojans held a 35-32 lead after the first half. The Trojans trailed by as many as six and lead by as many as nine.

The Trojans advantage in the game was their bench and foul shooting. The Trojans outscored the Ragin' Cajuns bench 20-8. They made 24 of 33 from the line while Louisiana-Lafayette made just 4 of 11.

Florida Atlantic 61, Middle Tennessee 60
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) - Alex Tucker hit a layup with 3 seconds remaining to give Florida Atlantic a 61-60 win over Middle Tennessee on Saturday night.

The Owls (8-10, 4-3 Sun Belt Conference) led 38-30 but were outscored 21-2 as Middle Tennessee built a 51-40 lead with 6:36 to play on a jumper by Theryn Hudson. The Owls rallied and regained the lead 59-58 on a jumper by Sanchez Hughley with 23 seconds to play.

Montarrio Haddock gave the Blue Raiders (8-10, 3-3) a 60-59 advantage on short jumper with 5 seconds to go before Tucker's game winner. The Blue Raiders' James Washington missed a shot at the buzzer.

Hughley scored 11 points, and Shavar Richardson and Raymond Taylor each had 10 for the Owls, who have won three of their last four games.

Desmond Yates had a game-high 19 points for the Blue Raiders, who have lost four of their last five. Haddock added 11.

South Alabama 69, Troy 67
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - Allyn Cooks drove the length of the court for a buzzer-beating layup that gave South Alabama a 69-67 victory over Troy on Saturday night.

Martino Brock, who led the Jaguars (12-7, 4-3 Sun Belt Conference) in scoring with 17 points, capped a 10-0 run with a layup and free throw for a 65-62 lead with 2:47 remaining.

A dunk by Yamene Coleman brought the Trojans (9-9, 4-3) back within one before a jumper by Cooks put the Jaguars ahead 67-64 with 40 seconds left.

After each team took a timeout, Troy's Michael Vogler drilled a 3-pointer, his only one of the night in four attempts, to tie it with 7 seconds remaining.

Tim Williams scored 16 points, Bryan Sherrer 15 and Cooks 11 for South Alabama.

Coleman led Troy with 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting and had 14 rebounds. It was his fifth double-double of the season.