Smith leads Louisiana Monroe past Georgia State 82-76
MONROE, La. -- Daishon Smith scored 36 points with eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals, and had seven points in a 9-0 run inside the final two minutes to lift Louisiana Monroe to an 82-76 win over Sun Belt Conference leader Georgia State on Wednesday night.
There were seven ties and eight lead changes and neither team led by double figures. A layup by Malik Benlevi and a Jeff Thomas 3-pointer put the Panthers up with 2:04 to play. Smith answered with a 3-pointer at 1:37 and, after a Georgia State miss, had a 4-point play at 1:07 to make it 80-74.
Michael Ertel added two free throws after another miss to clinch it. The Warhawks lost the first meeting 74-73.
Smith had 22 points in the second half and finished 11 for 11 from the foul line, where ULM (12-10, 5-5), which snapped a three-game losing streak, was 21 of 24.
D'Marcus Simonds led Georgia State (16-7, 7-3), which is a half-game ahead of three teams, with 18 points. Devin Mitchell added 15 for the Panthers who were 7 of 10 from the line.
Game Information
- Referees:
- Jason Baker
- Brent Dugas
- Gerald Williams
2023-24 Sun Belt Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
Appalachian State | 16-2 | - | 27-7 |
James Madison | 15-3 | 1 | 32-4 |
Troy | 13-5 | 3 | 20-12 |
Arkansas State | 11-7 | 5 | 20-17 |
Louisiana | 10-8 | 6 | 19-14 |
Southern Miss | 9-9 | 7 | 16-16 |
South Alabama | 8-10 | 8 | 16-16 |
Georgia State | 8-10 | 8 | 14-17 |
Georgia Southern | 8-10 | 8 | 9-24 |
Texas State | 7-11 | 9 | 17-18 |
Marshall | 7-11 | 9 | 13-20 |
UL Monroe | 6-12 | 10 | 11-19 |
Coastal Carolina | 5-13 | 11 | 9-22 |
Old Dominion | 3-15 | 13 | 7-25 |