UL Lafayette 80, Texas St. 54

Frank Bartley scored 23 points, Justin Miller added 14 off the bench and Louisiana cruised past Texas State 80-54 in the Sun Belt Conference quarterfinals on Friday, keeping its record-setting season alive.
 
Top-seeded Louisiana (27-5) will face Appalachian State or Texas-Arlington in a Saturday semifinal.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns pushed their school-record for wins to 27, continuing a pace that began in conference when they won a school-record 16 Sun Belt games, 15 by double digits, and earned top seed to the tournament for the first time since 2004.
 
Bartley knocked down five of Louisiana's 14 3-pointers and Miller drained four as Louisiana shot 53 percent from the field (31 of 59) and was 14 of 27 from distance (52 percent).

UT Arlington 84, Appalachian State 68

Erick Neal scored 37 points, Kevin Hervey added 17 and UT Arlington raced past Appalachian State 84-68 on Friday, advancing to the Sun Belt semifinals.
 
UT Arlington (20-12), the No. 4 seed, takes on top-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette (27-5) on Saturday. The Mavericks lost twice to Louisiana-Lafayette in the regular season.
 
The Mavericks led all the way, built a double-digit lead by the midpoint of the first half and held a 43-31 lead on Appalachian State by the break.
 
Neal was 13 of 18 from the floor, making six of eight 3-point shots, and sank all five free throws as well. Neal scored 13 in the opening 20 minutes, while Appalachian State shot 33 percent for the half and 34 percent for the game (23 of 68). The Mountaineers were just 2 of 22 from distance.
 
 

Georgia State 73, Troy 51

Jeff Thomas scored 19 points, D'Marcus Simonds added 17 with eight rebounds and seven assists and No. 2 seed Georgia State clobbered defending champion Troy 73-51 in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Friday.
 
Georgia State (22-10) advances to Saturday's semifinal for the second year in a row and will face sixth-seeded Louisiana-Monroe or No. 3 seed Georgia Southern. Georgia State has been a second seed or higher in four of the last five seasons.
 
Although Troy (16-17) came into this year's event as a No. 7 seed, the Trojans beat Georgia State twice in conference play, by two and by 13 points. There was no charmed third time as Troy was held to 14-of-45 shooting (31 percent) with 15 turnovers on Friday. The Trojans were 5-of-22 in the first half.