Thursday’s Scores From the Sun Belt

There were four league games played last night in the SBC, and the home teams won three of the four contests played.  Here are the highlights:

LITTLE ROCK 84, TROY 70--Rayjon Tucker scored 24 points and Little Rock scored 54 points in the second half to get the road win.  Little Rock (8-15, 3-7 Sun Belt) shot a sizzling 79% in the second half to erase a six point deficit at halftime.  Little Rock hit 10 of its first eleven shots after intermission.  Troy (10-12, 3-7), playing without leading scorer Jordan Varnado, was let by Javan Johnson with 16 points.

SOUTH ALABAMA 70, ARKANSAS STATE 62--Herb McGee scored 24 points and Josh Ajayi added 20 as South Alabama (12-11, 5-5) pulled away in the final minutes to get the home win.  The Red Wolves (10-13, 4-6) got within 60-59 with 4:08 remaining but could only get three points the rest of the way.  Ty Cockfield Tristin Walley each got 16 points to lead Arkansas State.

TEXAS STATE 74, APPALACHIAN STATE 71--The Bobcats moved into a tie for first place, shooting 55.4 percent in the win over the Mountaineers, snapping Appalachian State's three game winning streak.  The Bobcats hit only 4-17 from three point range, but were a sizzling 69% inside the arc.  Nijal Pearson capped a 9-0 run with a three pointer to give Texas State (18-5, 7-3) some breathing room.  Pearson had 19 points and Tre' Nottingham added 18 for the Bobcats.  Ronshad Shabazz led four Mountaineers (8-15, 3-7) in double figures with 23 points.

UTA 74, COASTAL CAROLINA 54--It was cold in the Metroplex last night, but not as cold as Coastal Carolina.  The Chanticleers (12-10, 6-4) shot just 22 percent (14-62) from the field and just 18% after intermission. UTA (11-12, 7-3) finished the first half on a 24-11 run.  Eric Dennis led three Mavericks in double figures for UTA, while DeVante Jones hit eight free throws to lead Coastal with 15 points.