South Alabama basketball pulled away in the second half for a 77-51 victory at Georgia State on Thursday, moving to 10-4 overall and 2-0 in Sun Belt Conference play.

Barry Dunning scored a game-high 22 points and added eight rebounds for the Jaguars, who have won their first two conference games for the first time since 2018-19. Judah Brown added 15 points and JJ Wheat 13 for South Alabama, which plays at Georgia Southern at 2 p.m. Saturday.

South Alabama led just 33-30 at halftime and 38-35 at the 16:12 mark of the second, but outscored Georgia State 35-7 over the next 12 minutes of game time to go up 73-42 with 5:05 left. Included in that run were three 3-pointers by Brown, who hit 5 of 9 from long range in 18 minutes off the bench.

Dunning also continued his strong play in his first season at South Alabama after transferring in from UAB. The Mobile native played 36 minutes, making 9 of 17 from the field and all four of his free-throw attempts.

JJ Wheat was once again excellent in a reserve role for the Jaguars, totaling 13 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and no turnovers in 27 minutes. Redshirt freshman John Broom added 10 points, four rebounds and three steals for South Alabama.

South Alabama guard Myles Corey, the Sun Belt’s leading scorer coming into Thursday at 17.7 points per game, scored just nine on Thursday, but added seven assists. The Jaguars had 19 assists and just six turnovers as a team.

Toneari Lane led Georgia State with 15 points, all on 3-pointers. Cesare Edwards added 12 points and six rebounds for the Panthers, who lost to the Jaguars in Atlanta for the first time since 2021.

South Alabama has now won three straight games by at least 26 points and has victories in six of its last seven overall. The Jaguars opened Sun Belt play with a 77-49 win over James Madison on Dec. 21, then beat non-conference opponent Mobile 106-41 on Monday.