NEW ORLEANS -- Jeff Thomas scored 19 points, D'Marcus Simonds added 17 with eight rebounds and seven assists and No. 2 seed Georgia State clobbered defending champion Troy 73-51 in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Friday.
Georgia State (22-10) advances to Saturday's semifinal for the second year in a row and will face sixth-seeded Louisiana-Monroe or No. 3 seed Georgia Southern. Georgia State has been a second seed or higher in four of the last five seasons.
Although Troy (16-17) came into this year's event as a No.