State Division I college basketball roundups

SUN BELT MEN

UALR 73, SOUTH ALABAMA 71

Markquis Nowell scored a game-high 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the floor, including 5 three-pointers, to lead four University of Arkansas at Little Rock players with 10 or more points in a victory over South Alabama on Saturday at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala.

The Trojans (15-7, 9-2 Sun Belt Conference) led 64-55 with 3:30 remaining after a three-pointer by Jovan Stulic. The Jaguars (12-10, 5-6) chipped into the lead, and a three-point play from Andre Fox cut the lead 68-66 with 47 seconds left. Ben Coupet hit a three-pointer to push the lead to 71-66, but Herb McGee countered with a layup that cut the lead to 71-68. Nowell then hit two free throws for a 73-68 lead before a three-pointer from McGee set the final score.

UALR shot 47% (25 of 53) from the floor, including 12-of-28 shooting (43%) from the three-point line. The Trojans hit 11 of 14 free throws and outrebounded the Jaguars 29-24, including an 8-3 advantage on the offensive glass, and had an 8-2 edge in second-chance points. UALR had 6 blocked shots, 7 steals and 14 assists.

Coupet finished wtih 15 points and Stulic chipped in 14 for the Trojans. Ruot Monyyong added 11.

McGee, Trhae Mitchell and Josh Ajayi all had 17 points to lead the Jaguars.

ARKANSAS STATE 78, TROY 62

Arkansas State University (15-7, 7-4) held Troy (8-14, 4-7) to 29.3% shooting from the floor Saturday at Trojan Arena in Troy, Ala.

The Red Wolves jumped out to a 13-5 lead, but the Trojans pulled within 16-12. Troy then went cold from the floor, not hitting a shot in over six minutes as Arkansas State went on a 15-2 run to lead 31-14 with 5:52 left in the first half. The Trojans outscored the Red Wolves 11-6 the rest of the half, but ASU led 37-25 at halftime, its largest halftime lead of the season.

The Red Wolves shot 51.9% (27 of 52) from the floor, including 7-of-15 shooting (46.7%) from the three-point line and 17-of-27 shooting (63%) from the free-throw line. ASU outscored Troy 36-22 in the lane despite being outrebounded 38-37, held a 15-2 edge in fast-break points and turned 11 Troy turnovers into 18 points.

"From the get-go, I thought we had a great bounce in our step, especially defensively," ASU Coach Mike Balado said in a news release. "Our defensive effort was pretty impressive over the first 10 minutes, and we took great shots on offense. Our guys shared the ball well, and I thought this was our most complete game we've played this year."

Melo Eggleston scored 15 points to lead Arkansas State, which now has sole possession of third place in the Sun Belt Conference standings. Jerry Johnson had 12 points and Christian Willis added 11 for the Red Wolves. Khalyl Waters had 15 points to lead Troy, while Ty Gordon poured in 14 and Tahj Small chipped in with 11.

SOUTHLAND MEN

ABILENE CHRISTIAN 70, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 69, OT

Payten Ricks hit a jumper with three seconds remaining in overtime to give Abilene Christian (11-8, 6-2 Southland Conference) a victory over the University of Central Arkansas (5-15, 4-5) on Saturday at the Farris Center in Conway.

Ricks forced the game to go into overtime after being fouled by Eddy Kayouloud and hitting three free throws with one second left in regulation to tie the game at 62-62. UCA had held a nine-point lead with 7:23 left in regulation following a Rylan Bergersen three-pointer. The Panthers led for much of overtime, but a three-pointer by Aaron Weidenaar with 15 seconds left gave the Bears a 69-68 lead before Ricks' jumper sealed the victory for Abilene Christian.

photo

UCA’s DeAndre Jones (right) looks to put up a shot while an Abilene Christian defender tries to draw a charging call Saturday during the Bears’ 70-69 overtime loss to the Panthers at the Farris Center in Conway. Jones finished with 14 points. (Photo courtesy University of Central Arkansas)

UCA outscored Abilene Christian 24-18 in the lane and held a 48-30 rebounding advantage, but the Bears committed 22 turnovers, which the Panthers converted into 23 points. UCA also blocked 11 shots and got 28 points off the bench.

Bergersen finished with 16 points to lead the Bears, while DeAndre Jones added 14 and Kayouloud chipped in with 12. Ricks had a game-high 24 points to lead the Panthers, Coryon Mason scored 14 and Joe Pleasant had 11.

SWAC MEN

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M 67,

UAPB 54

The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (3-15, 2-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference) was undone by rebounding and turnovers in a loss to Prairie View A&M (9-10, 5-1) on Saturday in Prairie View, Texas.

The Golden Lions shot better from the floor (43.6%) than the Panthers (42.6%), but Prairie View A&M outrebounded UAPB 30-25 and forced 22 UAPB turnovers, which the Panthers turned into 25 points. The Panthers outscored the Golden Lions 34-17 off the bench, 24-16 in the lane and 16-13 on the fast break. Prairie View A&M also held a 15-8 edge in second-chance points.

Marquell Carter led UAPB with 12 points and eight rebounds. Darius Williams scored a game-high 22 points to lead Prairie View A&M on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor, while Gerard Andrus added 11.

SUN BELT WOMEN

ARKANSAS STATE 63, COASTAL CAROLINA 61

Jireh Washington's second-chance shot as time expired gave Arkansas State University (8-11, 5-3 Sun Belt Conference) a victory over Coastal Carolina (15-3, 5-2) at First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro.

The Red Wolves held a 53-45 lead with 5:05 remaining after Peyton Martin hit two free throws, but the Chanticleers used a 9-1 run over the next 2:35 to tie the game at 54-54 with 2:30 left after Caitlin Roche hit a three-pointer. Jada Ford countered with a four-point play, giving ASU a 58-54 lead. But Zacharyia Esmon countered with a three-pointer to cut the lead to 58-57 with 1:58 remaining. Peyton Martin hit a layup and a free throw for a three-point play to push the lead to 61-57, but a jumper and a layup from Aja Blount tied the game at 61-61 with 21 seconds left. Washington's game-winner came off her own miss as time wound down.

Washington finished with 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the floor, and Mya Love added 15 points for Arkansas State. Naheria Hamilton led Coastal Carolina with 14 points, Blount finished with 12 and Roche had 11.

SOUTHLAND WOMEN

ABILENE CHRISTIAN 74, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 64

Already leading 15-13 after the first quarter, Abilene Christian outscored the University of Central Arkansas 21-9 in the second quarter to help the Lady Wildcats earn a victory at the Farris Center in Conway.

Abilene Christian (15-2, 7-1 Southland Conference) shot 41.7% (10 of 24) from the floor in the first half, including 42.9% (3 of 7) from the three-point line and 92.9% (13 of 14) from the free-throw line, with 11 of those made free throws coming in the second quarter. Central Arkansas (8-10, 4-5) shot 27.6% (8 of 29) from the floor in the first half. The Sugar Bears missed all six attempted three-pointers and shot 75% (6 of 8) from the free-throw line.

UCA improved in the second half, shooting 54.8% (17 of 31) from the floor while outscoring Abilene Christian 42-38. While the Sugar Bears were outrebounded 33-31, they held a 15-8 edge on the offensive glass, outscored the Lady Wildcats 34-22 in the lane and turned 17 Abilene Christian turnovers into 22 points. UCA also got 19 points off the bench.

Taylor Sells led the Sugar Bears with 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor, while Briana Trigg added 15 points and Hannah Langhi chipped in with 10. Breanna Wright scored a game-high 31 points to lead Abilene Christian and Alyssa Adams poured in 16.

SWAC WOMEN

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M 61,

UAPB 51

Kyeonia Harris scored 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor to lead the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (3-13, 2-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference) in a loss to Prairie View A&M (5-13, 2-4) in Prairie View, Texas.

Turnovers proved to be a big issue as the Golden Lions committed 31, which led to 29 points for the Panthers. UAPB shot well from the floor (17 of 41, 41.5%) and the free-throw line (14 of 20, 70%), but hit just 3 of 14 (21.4%) from the three-point line. The Golden Lions outrebounded the Panthers 30-23, including a 21-14 edge on the defensive glass, but they were outscored 24-22 in the lane.

Nissa Sam-Grant had 10 points, including six from the free-throw line, for UAPB. Bernesha Peters and Ke'Asia Williams scored 13 points each to lead Prairie View A&M.

-- Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Sports on 01/26/2020

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