Sports briefs

LSU names Tony Ball wide receivers coach
BATON ROUGE — LSU head coach Les Miles says he’s hired former Georgia assistant Tony Ball as the Tigers’ new receivers coach.
Ball has coached at the college level for about three decades, working with wide receivers for about 20 years.
He spent the past nine years at Georgia, working both with running backs and receivers.
Players he coached while with the Bulldogs included current NFL wide receiver A.J. Green.
Miles says Ball is a Southeastern Conference veteran who can develop LSU’s receivers into great players.
Ball, who was a running back and kick returner for Tennessee-Chattanooga from 1977 to 1980, also has coached receivers at Virginia Tech, Louisville and at UT-Chattanooga.

Tulane shocks Cincinnati 50-49 on Stark’s buzzer-beating 3
CINCINNATI — Jonathan Stark hit a contested, 30-foot, buzzer-beating 3-pointer and Tulane shocked Cincinnati 50-49 Saturday.
Troy Caupain fed Gary Clark on a pick-and-roll that put Cincinnati up 49-47 with 4.7 seconds left. Stark received the inbounds pass and headed up the left side. He veered toward the middle of the court but was cut off and angled back left with a player on his hip. He pulled up about eight-feet behind the arc, and with another player closing out on him, swished the winner on a day he went 4 of 14 for nine points.
Jay Hook led the Green Wave (14-10, 5-7 American Conference) with 18 points.
Octavius Ellis had 15 for the Bearcats (17-8, 8-5).
Tulane shot 30 percent (7 of 23) in the first half but led 19-13 at the break because Cincinnati shot 25 percent (6 of 24).
The Green Wave finished at 34.6 but was 6 of 22 from 3-point range. The Bearcats finished at 44 percent but missed all 11 3-point attempts.

Lynch leads Southern U over Arkansas-Pine Bluff 74-56
PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Tre Lynch had a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead Southern to a 74-56 victory Saturday night against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Southern (12-14, 9-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference) has won eight of its last 10 games and is in third place, a game back of SWAC leader Alabama State (14-7, 10-2). Arkansas-Pine Bluff (8-18, 5-7) falls to seventh place.
Lynch was 7 of 14 from the field, including 3 of 7 from long range. Trelun Banks and Joell Hopkins scored 12 points apiece for the Jaguars, who outrebounded the Golden Lions 42-29.
Tevin Hammond scored 14 points, Thaddeus Handley had 13 and Ghiavonni Robinson added 12 for Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Golden Lions shot just 18 percent in the first half and finished 16 of 53 overall (30.2 percent) from the floor.

Louisiana Tech routs FIU 75-42, takes C-USA lead
RUSTON — Raheem Appleby and Alex Hamilton each scored 14 points as Louisiana Tech roared past Florida International 75-42 to earn its 20th win of the season and take sole possession of first place in Conference USA Saturday night.
The Bulldogs (20-6, 11-2) entered Saturday tied with Western Kentucky atop the conference standings, but the Hilltoppers were upset by Marshall 87-82.
Louisiana Tech held the Golden Panthers to just 15 first-half points and outscored them by 22 points in the second half.
Louisiana Tech shot 47.5 percent from the field (28 of 59) and was 8 of 23 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs’ defense held Florida International to just 15 of 54 shooting (27.8 percent).
Dennis Maven scored 11 points and Adrian Diaz scored 11 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots to lead Florida International (12-13, 5-7).

SE Louisiana thwarts Nicholls come-back bid 65-59
THIBODAUX — Devonte Upson, Jimmie Duplessis and Zay Jackson combined for 33 points to lead Southeastern Louisiana to a 65-59 win against Nicholls Saturday.
Upton had 12 points, Duplessis added 11 with four assists and Jackson chipped in 10 and had six assists for Southeastern Louisiana (8-16, 5-6 Southland Conference).
The Lions made 8 of 15 from long range and shot 53.5 percent from the field (23 of 43) while limiting Nicholls to 15-of-42 shooting (35.7 percent). Southeastern scored 30 points in the paint while holding the Colonels to 18 points.
The game was tied at 51 with 4:11 left. The Lions had a 9-2 run to lead 60-53 with 1:09 remaining. Richie Lewis made four straight free throws to close to 60-57, but Dylon Maggio nailed a trey to seal the victory.
Sam McBeath had 14 points and Lewis added 11 for Nicholls (7-15, 4-8).
From The Associated Press.