Texas State upsets UT-Arlington 68-62 in Sun Belt opener

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Emani Gant scored 19 points, Cameron Naylor added 15 and eighth-seeded Texas State opened the Sun Belt Conference tournament Thursday with a 68-62 upset of fifth-seeded Texas-Arlington.

Wesley Davis and Ethan Montalvo added 11 points apiece for the Bobcats (14-16), who earned a matchup with fourth-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette in Friday's quarterfinals.

Jamel Outler had 15 points and Anthony Walker and Lonnie McClanahan had 12 points and 7 rebounds each for the Mavericks (16-15), who made 12 of 13 free throws in the second half but were just 3 of 16 on 3-pointers.

Texas State, which had never won a Sun Belt tournament game before, led 33-29 at the half and stretched that to 54-42 on a Montalvo jumper at 8:53. Then the Mavericks went on a 12-0 run to tie the game on a Kevin Hervey jumper with 5:28 to play. But after that they went 0-8 from the field and Nayor's consecutive three-point plays and dunk secured the upset.