NEW ORLEANS (AP) 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 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. 7 seed, the Trojans beat Georgia State twice in conference play, by two and by 13 points. There was no charmed third time as Troy was held to 14-of-45 shooting (31 percent) with 15 turnovers on Friday. The Trojans were 5-of-22 in the first half.