Marcus Hooten scored 28 points and Arkansas State weathered a second-half letdown to win comfortably over Florida International 77-67 on Saturday night.
Arkansas State (12-17, 6-8 Sun Belt) saw its nine-point halftime lead disappear after FIU (7-19, 4-10) opened the second half with a 19-10 run to tie the game at 46-all with 14:48 remaining. Trey Finn's 3-pointer two possessions later gave Arkansas State a lead it would not relinquish at 49-46. The Red Wolves methodically built a 68-55 lead with 4:39 remaining to ensure the victory.
Arkansas State converted 45.5 percent (10 of 22) of its 3-pointers compared to 33.3 percent (7 of 21) for FIU.
Finn contributed 20 points with six assists for the Red Wolves.
Phil Taylor led with 17 points and Dominique Ferguson added 14 for FIU.
