Troy University Athletics
Saturday, January 5
TROY
7:00 PM
Troy University
80
vs
67
Utah Valley State College
Hot First Half Leads Trojans Past Utah Valley
1/5/2008 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)
TROY, Ala. - Troy senior Jerome Odem may have still been feeling the effects of a flu bug that slowed him on Thursday night, but he didn't let it bother him on Saturday, hitting his first four shots, including a trio of three-pointers, to lead the Trojans to a 80-67 victory over Utah Valley.
The Trojans (8-6) fared much better the second time round against the Wolverines (6-9) who downed Troy 72-51 in Orem, Utah, on November 20. Troy made up for its worst offensive performance of the year in the first meeting by shooting 50 percent from the floor the second time around.
“I am really proud of our guys,” head coach Don Maestri said. “We came out and played well in the first 10 minutes, better than we have all season. This is a good win because they beat us early in the season. We needed this win as we head into our Florida trip.”
The Trojans also outrebounded Utah Valley 37-35, marking their second straight game to win the battle on the boards.
Odem played just six minutes in the win over North Texas and was still in recovery mode on Saturday, but his early shooting, combined with the continued hot-hand of backcourt mate O'Darien Bassett, was more than the Wolverines could handle.
“I'm still not feeling very well, but I knew that I had to go out there and give a good effort tonight,” Odem said. “I got off to a good start and hit some shots and that seemed to give us the spark.”
The duo scored 29 points in the first half by hitting a combined 7-of-10 from three-point range as the Trojans built a 45-25 lead at the intermission. Odem finished the game with a career-high 19 points, 16 in the first half, while Bassett, who had averaged 30.3 points per game over the previous three outings, finished with 18.
“Odem shot the lights out in the first half,” Maestri said. “He kept us going early and he was the difference in the first half.”
The Trojans used a 37-13 run through the middle of the first half to take a 27-point lead at 44-17. Odem and Bassett combined for 22 of the points during that run to spark Troy to its largest lead of the night.
The Wolverines got hot from outside in the second half and closed to within 14 points at 69-55 with 7:35 to play, but the Trojans answered with a 7-0 run to push the lead back to 76-55.
Utah Valley closed to game on a 12-4 run over the final 6:14, but only managed to get within 13 points.
In addition to Odem and Bassett, senior Jarvis Acker scored a career-high 13 points while also grabbing seven rebounds.
Ryan Toolson led Utah Valley with a game-high 21 points, hitting five-of-10 from three-point range. Richard Troyer added 17 for the Wolverines.
The Trojans will hit the road next week for a pair of Sun Belt Conference games in south Florida. Troy will take on Florida International on Wednesday night in Miami before heading up interstate 95 to Boca Raton for a Saturday night tilt at Florida Atlantic.
Troy's next home game is set for Wednesday, January 16, against the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee.
The Trojans (8-6) fared much better the second time round against the Wolverines (6-9) who downed Troy 72-51 in Orem, Utah, on November 20. Troy made up for its worst offensive performance of the year in the first meeting by shooting 50 percent from the floor the second time around.
“I am really proud of our guys,” head coach Don Maestri said. “We came out and played well in the first 10 minutes, better than we have all season. This is a good win because they beat us early in the season. We needed this win as we head into our Florida trip.”
The Trojans also outrebounded Utah Valley 37-35, marking their second straight game to win the battle on the boards.
Odem played just six minutes in the win over North Texas and was still in recovery mode on Saturday, but his early shooting, combined with the continued hot-hand of backcourt mate O'Darien Bassett, was more than the Wolverines could handle.
“I'm still not feeling very well, but I knew that I had to go out there and give a good effort tonight,” Odem said. “I got off to a good start and hit some shots and that seemed to give us the spark.”
The duo scored 29 points in the first half by hitting a combined 7-of-10 from three-point range as the Trojans built a 45-25 lead at the intermission. Odem finished the game with a career-high 19 points, 16 in the first half, while Bassett, who had averaged 30.3 points per game over the previous three outings, finished with 18.
“Odem shot the lights out in the first half,” Maestri said. “He kept us going early and he was the difference in the first half.”
The Trojans used a 37-13 run through the middle of the first half to take a 27-point lead at 44-17. Odem and Bassett combined for 22 of the points during that run to spark Troy to its largest lead of the night.
The Wolverines got hot from outside in the second half and closed to within 14 points at 69-55 with 7:35 to play, but the Trojans answered with a 7-0 run to push the lead back to 76-55.
Utah Valley closed to game on a 12-4 run over the final 6:14, but only managed to get within 13 points.
In addition to Odem and Bassett, senior Jarvis Acker scored a career-high 13 points while also grabbing seven rebounds.
Ryan Toolson led Utah Valley with a game-high 21 points, hitting five-of-10 from three-point range. Richard Troyer added 17 for the Wolverines.
The Trojans will hit the road next week for a pair of Sun Belt Conference games in south Florida. Troy will take on Florida International on Wednesday night in Miami before heading up interstate 95 to Boca Raton for a Saturday night tilt at Florida Atlantic.
Troy's next home game is set for Wednesday, January 16, against the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee.
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