Erving Walker scored 27 points, and Florida went on a 9-0 run late in the second half to pull away for a 71-66 win over Arkansas on Thursday night.

Rotnei Clarke scored 17 points for Arkansas (8-10, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) and made three 3-pointers during the second half. The last one put the Razorbacks ahead 56-55 before the decisive run by the Gators (13-5, 2-2).

Florida shot only 36 percent from the field but hurt Arkansas on the boards. The Gators had 12 second-chance points, all in the second half.

Kenny Boynton added 13 points for the Gators, and Alex Tyus scored 11 with 12 rebounds.

Marshawn Powell scored 14 points for Arkansas.

Florida led 67-58 after a 3-pointer by Walker.

Florida led 67-58 after a 3-pointer by Walker. The Razorbacks answered with a 3-pointer by Courtney Fortson and a dunk by Powell. Following a traveling call, Arkansas had the ball with 46.3 seconds remaining, but Powell missed from the outside, and the Razorbacks had to foul.

Walker scored 15 points in the first half, making all four of his field-goal attempts, three from 3-point range. The 5-foot-8 sophomore finished 7 of 12 from the field and 5 of 6 on 3-pointers.

Clarke went 6 of 12 and 5 of 9 from 3-point range. Powell was 7 of 10 from the field but didn’t touch the ball much in the final minutes.

Fortson finished with 14 points and 11 assists.

Florida led 28-26 at halftime and opened the second half with 3-pointers by Walker and Boynton. Arkansas responded with a 10-2 run to tie it.

Mike Washington, who scored only two points in the first half for the Razorbacks, finished with 11 after battling foul trouble all night.

After falling behind on Clarke’s last 3-pointer, Florida tied it on a free throw by Chandler Parsons. Walker then scored four straight points, and Vernon Macklin and Boynton added a basket apiece to make it 64-56.

Troy 77, Western Kentucky 69: Brandon Hazzard scored 18 points to lead five Troy players in double figures as the Trojans won.

Yamene Coleman and Richard Delk added 14 points each as Troy (10-9, 5-3 Sun Belt Conference) shot 64 percent from the field (16-for-25) in the second half.

Michael Vogler added 13 points and eight assists and Levan Patsatsia had 10 for Troy.

Samford 50, Elon 49: Kaylin Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left to give Samford the win.

Andy King scored 16 for the Bulldogs, who led 23-16 at halftime.

Priceville’s Josh Bedwell had a rebound for Samford.

North Texas 86, South Alabama 78: Eric Tramiel had a career-high 25 points and added 13 rebounds to lead North Texas.

Tim Williams and Bryan Sherrer scored 20 points each for South Alabama (12-8, 4-4). Decatur High grad Gary Redus did not play for South Alabama.

Women

No. 21 Vanderbilt 61, Auburn 60: Merideth Marsh scored 19 points to lead No. 21 Vanderbilt.

Arab’s Alli Smalley had 19 points for Auburn. Her 3-pointer brought Auburn within one with 46.9 left in the game. Vanderbilt’s Tiffany Clarke missed an open layup on the ensuing possession giving the Tigers a chance.

Keke Carrier turned the ball over and Vanderbilt (14-5, 3-3 SEC) held on for its 16th straight win over Auburn (11-8, 2-4). Carrier was injured earlier in the game and didn’t return till the end.

The Commodores took advantage of Carrier’s absence and overcame a 36-29 halftime deficit for their third conference victory. Jence Rhoads added 12 points for Vanderbilt.

Auburn coach Nell Fortner is 0-8 all time against Vanderbilt’s Melanie Balcomb.

The Tigers had a 53-49 lead in the second half, but they failed to score in the next 5 minutes. Two 3-pointers by Lauren Lueders gave the Commodores a 61-53 advantage, but Vanderbilt failed to score in the last 2:25 of the game.

Carrier limped off the floor with 17:20 to go in the first half. She spent the rest of the game being tended to by trainers and working on an exercise bike before returning for the finish.

Smalley became the 25th Auburn player to score 1,000 points with a layup early in the second half.

No. 18 LSU 69, South Carolina 52: Katherine Graham scored 22 of her career-high 24 points in the first half and No. 18 LSU snapped a two-game losing streak.

Scoring inside and out, Graham hit all eight of her shots in the opening half and surpassed her previous career best of 14 points in the first 10 minutes. The Tigers (14-3, 3-2 SEC) led by as much as 18 and the Gamecocks never came closer than eight points the rest of the way.

LaSondra Barrett and Allison Hightower combined for 24 of LSUs first 26 points in the second half. Barrett finished with 18 points and eight rebounds. Hightower had 16 points.

No. 8 Georgia 53, No. 3 Tennessee 50: Porsha Phillips scored the go-ahead basket off a pass from Ashley Houts with 39 seconds remaining, then added two free throws that clinched No. 8 Georgia’s upset.

Houts led the Lady Bulldogs (18-1, 5-1) with 12 points and Phillips had 10, but this bruising game was decided at the defensive end. Georgia managed to win even though it missed 16 of its first 19 shots in the second half against the Lady Volunteers (16-2, 4-1).

Tennessee turned the ball over 23 times and couldn’t stop the Lady Dogs from stealing it away at the end. Alyssia Brewer converted a three-point play that put the Lady Vols ahead, but Phillips scored the final four points to give Georgia one of its biggest victories in years.

Glory Johnson scored 14 points for Tennessee, but the Lady Vols took a huge blow when Kelley Cain fouled out with 4:13 left. She picked up her fourth foul, complained about the call and drew a technical that sent her to the sideline for the rest of the night.

Georgia snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Lady Vols, posting its first victory in the series since the 2004 SEC tournament. The Lady Dogs had not beaten Tennessee in Athens in a decade.

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