Thursday’s Scores From the Sun Belt

League play opened Thursday night in the Sun Belt Conference.  The games were highlighted by a record-setting performance in Monroe, and a sharp shooting exhibition in Troy.  Here's what happened.

(For details on Louisiana-Arkansas State, click here.)

COASTAL CAROLINA 88, TROY 71--The Chanticleers bombed in 15 three pointers Thursday night in Troy to beat the Trojans.  Coastal (7-6, 1-0) shot 15-25 from beyond the arc.  Tyrell Gumbs-Frater hit six of those triples in scoring a game high 20 points.  Zac Cuthbertson scored 17 points and added eight rebounds.  Troy, meanwhile, played without all-conference forward Jordan Varnado and shot just 7-29 from three point range in having their four game winning streak snapped.  Charles Norman scored 16 to lead the Trojans (7-6, 0-1).

ULM 97, LITTLE ROCK 84--Senior transfer Daishon Smith had a career night, scoring 42 points to lead ULM *8-5, 1-0) to the conference opening win.  Smith scored 30 of his points in the second half and nailed 10-12 from three point range.  ULM shot 74% from the field in the second half and had a total of 17 three pointers.  Little Rock had a good shooting night as well, hitting 12 triples and shooting 60% from the field.  Marquis Nowell had 18 points for the Trojans (5-9, 0-1), while leading scorer Rayjon Tucker added 16.

TEXAS STATE 73, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 70--In San Marcos, leading scorer Nijal Pearson was held to 6 points on 2-17 shooting.  But Tre Nottingham picked up the slack, scoring 24 points to lead Texas State (12-2, 1-0) to the win.  Eric Terry added 16 points for the Bobcats, who have won ten of their last eleven games.  Simeon Carter scorer 20 points for the Eagles (8-6, 0-1), who made just 3-19 from three point range.

GEORGIA STATE 63, UTA 58--D'Marcus Simonds scored 15 points and Devin Mitchell added eleven as Georgia State (10-4, 1-0) overcame 19 turnovers to get the win in Arlington.  Malik Benlevi had ten points for the Panthers, who took only 39 shots on the night.  UTA (4-10, 0-1) couldn't overcome a 2-25 performance from three point range.  Brian Warren and David Azore had 13 points apiece for the Mavericks, who shot just 35% for the game.

SOUTH ALABAMA 79, APPALACHIAN STATE 73--The Jaguars used an 18-2 run to erase a 14 point first half deficit and got their league opening win.  Rodrick Sikes led the Jags (8-6, 1-0) with 21 points, while Josh Ajayi and Trhae Mitchell both had double doubles for South Alabama.  The Jaguars shot 51% from the floor, including 9-22 from three point range.  Ronshad Shabazz led the Mountaineers (5-9, 0-1) with 21 points while Isaac Johnson added 14.