Troy University Athletics
Friday, November 20
Gainesville, Fla
6:00 PM
Troy University
58
at
80
Florida
Trojans Fall to Gators in 2nd Half
11/20/2009 11:00:00 PM | Basketball (M)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Troy Trojans took a one-point lead into halftime, but were outscored by 23 points in the second half before falling 80-58 to the Florida Gators on Friday night.
Troy (2-1) was outrebounded in the second stanza 26-16 by the much taller Gators, despite also holding a rebound advantage at the break. The Trojans shot just 4-of-22 (18.2 percent) from deep and 22-of-62 (35.5 percent) overall on the night.
“They did a good job [on the inside],” Troy head coach Don Maestri said. “They have a very big team. Those guys – even their wings are 6-foot-8. But we just didn't do a very good job of executing the offense.
“I think Brandon [Hazzard] had three or four open shots. [Richard] Delk had open shots. Those guys have to hit those shots for us. It's just one game, I expect those kids to come back and make those shots.”
Erving Walker hit a couple of three-pointers to help the Gators (3-0) to 13-5 run over the first five-plus minutes of the second half. Erik Murphy's two down low capped a solid series of possessions and gave the Gators a 50-39 lead with 11:50 to go.
Walker continued his scorching shooting in the second half with another triple and a floater to give him 13 points, all in the second half. Richard Delk finally got a three to go for the Trojans in the second half on the subsequent possession, but Florida still led by 10 with 10:17 remaining.
Delk was the only Trojan in double figures with 15 points. Leading scorer Brandon Hazzard was held in check by Florida with just five points. The senior failed to hit a three-pointer for the first time this year. He did that just twice last season.
“Our guys played very hard,” Maestri said. “It's when you stop scoring, which is what happened to us in the second half, that you have problems. Our three real experienced guys: Vogler, Delk and Brandon – none of them scored in the second half.
“When you hit those dry spots, and this is poor coaching on my part, we should have slowed them down. We should have slowed them up and the way you do that is slow them up when we are on offense. They went to man-to-man and that is supposedly one of our strengths. We did a poor job when they made that run and our shooters didn't make shots.”
Dan Werner's fourth and fifth three-pointers of the night gave his Gators a 68-45 lead with 6:41 to go. Werner finished with 12 points.
“They started making three's,” Maestri said. “Florida, in its first two games, I think their best three-point shooter was something like 1-for-10. But tonight he hit four. Their lead took the pressure off him and gave him a chance to hit some shots.”
Yamene Coleman sank a pair of free throws almost three minutes into the game to give the Trojans a 6-2 lead early in the contest. Coleman finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
Ray Shipman connected on a baseline jumper and Chandler Parsons followed up with a trey to cut Troy's lead to just one. Levan Patsatsia split a pair at the line to make it 16-14 in favor of Troy with 11:29 left.
A 5-0 run for the Gators put them on top before Patsatsia was able to stop the Florida push with a free throw. Murphy converted a reverse lay-up to give the Gators a 21-17 lead with 7:49 remaining in the opening stanza.
The Trojans had cut the Florida lead down to two points, but Kenny Boynton completed a four-point play to give his squad a 31-25 lead. Antywan Jones scored two off an assist from Hazzard and a quick three-pointer in transition from Michael Vogler left Troy down by just one.
Boynton scored 23 for the night to pace the Gators. Parsons added points and seven rebounds.
Following a missed trey by Hazzard, Delk tipped in the miss for Troy's first lead in more than nine minutes. Troy couldn't get a final shot to go in the first half, but the Trojans took a 32-31 lead into halftime. The Trojans outrebounded UF 28-19 in the opening half.
The Trojans are in action next on Tuesday evening when they travel to face in-state rival UAB. Tip is set for 7 p.m. at Bartow Arena.
Troy (2-1) was outrebounded in the second stanza 26-16 by the much taller Gators, despite also holding a rebound advantage at the break. The Trojans shot just 4-of-22 (18.2 percent) from deep and 22-of-62 (35.5 percent) overall on the night.
“They did a good job [on the inside],” Troy head coach Don Maestri said. “They have a very big team. Those guys – even their wings are 6-foot-8. But we just didn't do a very good job of executing the offense.
“I think Brandon [Hazzard] had three or four open shots. [Richard] Delk had open shots. Those guys have to hit those shots for us. It's just one game, I expect those kids to come back and make those shots.”
Erving Walker hit a couple of three-pointers to help the Gators (3-0) to 13-5 run over the first five-plus minutes of the second half. Erik Murphy's two down low capped a solid series of possessions and gave the Gators a 50-39 lead with 11:50 to go.
Walker continued his scorching shooting in the second half with another triple and a floater to give him 13 points, all in the second half. Richard Delk finally got a three to go for the Trojans in the second half on the subsequent possession, but Florida still led by 10 with 10:17 remaining.
Delk was the only Trojan in double figures with 15 points. Leading scorer Brandon Hazzard was held in check by Florida with just five points. The senior failed to hit a three-pointer for the first time this year. He did that just twice last season.
“Our guys played very hard,” Maestri said. “It's when you stop scoring, which is what happened to us in the second half, that you have problems. Our three real experienced guys: Vogler, Delk and Brandon – none of them scored in the second half.
“When you hit those dry spots, and this is poor coaching on my part, we should have slowed them down. We should have slowed them up and the way you do that is slow them up when we are on offense. They went to man-to-man and that is supposedly one of our strengths. We did a poor job when they made that run and our shooters didn't make shots.”
Dan Werner's fourth and fifth three-pointers of the night gave his Gators a 68-45 lead with 6:41 to go. Werner finished with 12 points.
“They started making three's,” Maestri said. “Florida, in its first two games, I think their best three-point shooter was something like 1-for-10. But tonight he hit four. Their lead took the pressure off him and gave him a chance to hit some shots.”
Yamene Coleman sank a pair of free throws almost three minutes into the game to give the Trojans a 6-2 lead early in the contest. Coleman finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
Ray Shipman connected on a baseline jumper and Chandler Parsons followed up with a trey to cut Troy's lead to just one. Levan Patsatsia split a pair at the line to make it 16-14 in favor of Troy with 11:29 left.
A 5-0 run for the Gators put them on top before Patsatsia was able to stop the Florida push with a free throw. Murphy converted a reverse lay-up to give the Gators a 21-17 lead with 7:49 remaining in the opening stanza.
The Trojans had cut the Florida lead down to two points, but Kenny Boynton completed a four-point play to give his squad a 31-25 lead. Antywan Jones scored two off an assist from Hazzard and a quick three-pointer in transition from Michael Vogler left Troy down by just one.
Boynton scored 23 for the night to pace the Gators. Parsons added points and seven rebounds.
Following a missed trey by Hazzard, Delk tipped in the miss for Troy's first lead in more than nine minutes. Troy couldn't get a final shot to go in the first half, but the Trojans took a 32-31 lead into halftime. The Trojans outrebounded UF 28-19 in the opening half.
The Trojans are in action next on Tuesday evening when they travel to face in-state rival UAB. Tip is set for 7 p.m. at Bartow Arena.
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