Saturday, January 23

Middle Tennessee 84, WKU 74
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) - Desmond Yates scored 28 points and became Middle Tennessee State's all-time leading scorer in an 84-74 victory over Western Kentucky on Saturday.

Yates passed Robert Taylor with 1,629 career points for the Blue Raiders (11-10, 6-3 Sun Belt Conference), who used an 11-0 run to take a 55-40 lead and pull away from the Hilltoppers (11-8, 4-4).

The Blue Raiders shot 54.2 percent from the floor (26-for-48) and went 9 of 13 from beyond the arc.

James Washington scored 18 points, Montarrio Haddock had 14 and Calvin O'Neil added 11 for Middle Tennessee.

Western Kentucky has lost three straight Sun Belt Conference games since 1998-1999 when they losing four straight. Middle Tennessee beat the Hilltoppers for the first time in Bowling Green since 1977.

Steffphon Pettigrew led Western Kentucky with 22 points and a game-high nine rebounds. A.J. Slaughter had 20 points.

Denver 71, South Alabama 48
DENVER (AP) - Andrew hooper made 4 of 6 from 3-point range as Denver defeated South Alabama 71-48 in Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday.

As a team the Pioneers (13-7, 6-3) made 14 of 28 (50.0 percent) from 3. The Jaguars (12-9, 4-5) made just 1 of 8 (12.5 percent) from 3.

The Pioneers bench outscored the Jaguars bench 34-2. Hooper had 15 points as a reserve.

Martino Brock had a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds for the Jaguars. Tim Williams added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Denver carried a 29-20 lead into the half and extended it to 35-20 with two consecutive made 3's out of halftime.

Denver made more 3-pointers (14) than 2-point shots (9)and managed to shoot 52.1 percent from the field. The Pioneers turned the ball over only four times in the game. This win snaps a two-game conference losing streak for Denver, who is currently tied for second in the Sun Belt.

Florida Atlantic 78, Arkansas State 63
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - Sanchez Hughley scored 17 points to lead four Florida Atlantic players in double figures in a 78-63 victory over Arkansas State on Saturday night.

Greg Gantt scored 16 points, Alex Tucker added 15 and Shavar Richardson had 12 points as the Owls (10-10, 6-3 Sun Belt Conference) won their third straight game.

Florida Atlantic led throughout the second half, pushing its advantage to 54-43 on Gantt's 3-pointer with 9:24 left.

Arkansas State (11-8, 6-2) cut the lead to 56-52 on JeJuan Brown's 3-pointer with 7:35 remaining, but Hughley hit back-to-back 3s for a 62-52 advantage with 6:37 to play.

Hughley was 5-for-6 from beyond the arc.

Tucker had eight assists and Raymond Taylor added five as the Owls had 18 assists to eight turnovers.

FIU 96, UALR 81
MIAMI (AP) - Marvin Roberts scored 28 points to lead Florida International to a 96-81 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday night.

The Golden Panthers (7-16, 4-6 Sun Belt Conference) never trailed after a 7-0 run for a 65-59 lead with 7:50 left in the second half.

The Trojans (5-15, 1-8) cut Florida International's lead to 74-69 on Alex Garcia-Mendoza's two free throws with 4:21 left. Garcia-Mendoza led the Trojans with 20 points.

Roberts was 5-for-8 on 3-pointers and J.C. Otero finished with 18 points for Florida International.

Roberts hit three consecutive 3-pointers late in the first half, the last one with 2.3 seconds left to give the Golden Panthers a 39-38 halftime lead.

Rashad Allison scored 16 points and Martavius Adams had 14 for Arkansas State, which had a four-game winning streak snapped.

Louisiana-Monroe 48, New Orleans 47
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Tommie Sykes hit a clutch free throw in the closing seconds to propel Louisiana-Monroe past New Orleans 48-47 on Saturday night.

Dynile Forbes and Colby Carr scored 10 points apiece to lead the Warhawks (9-12, 4-6 Sun Belt Conference), who have won three of their last four games.

The Warhawks held a 47-42 lead with 1:23 to play, but New Orleans (7-13, 2-7) responded with two free throws from Carl Blair and a 3-pointer from Jaroslav Tyrna to tie the game at 47 with 39 seconds remaining.

Sykes was fouled on the ensuing possession, and he made 1 of 2 from the charity stripe to give Louisiana-Monroe a one-point lead. The Privateers had a final chance to win, but Blair's shot with 5 seconds left was off target.

Charles Carmouche finished wirh nine points and 10 rebounds to lead New Orleans.

Louisiana-Lafayette 69, Troy 54
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - Tyren Johnson scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Louisiana-Lafayette defeated Troy 69-54 on Saturday night for its fourth win in five games.

The Ragin' Cajuns (8-11, 5-3 Sun Belt Conference) shot 50 percent (15-for-30) in the first half to take a 37-25 lead and never led by less than seven points in the second half.

They held Brandon Hazzard of the Trojans (10-10, 5-4), who came in as the Sun Belt's leading scorer at 18.3 points per game, to two points on 1-for-8 shooting.

Chris Gradnigo added 17 points for Louisiana-Lafayette, which finished 48.1 percent (26-for-54) from the field to Troy's 35.7 percent (20-for-56) and also outshot the Trojans from the free throw line, 73.3 percent (11-for-15) to 37.5 percent (6-for-16).

Richard Delk, with 19 points, was the only Troy player to score in double figures.