Turnovers, Poor Shooting Doom Troy

Friday, November 19

Atlanta, GA

6:00 p.m.

Troy University

Georgia State University

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

11/19/2010 8:17:59 PM | Basketball (M)

Loss Overshadows Patsatsia Career Night

By: Taylor Bryan

BOX SCORE

ATLANTA – For the second straight game, turnovers and poor shooting stymied the Troy Trojans, only this time it was more turnovers and poor shooting at the foul line that keyed a 80-70 win for Georgia State on Friday night.

Troy committed 16 turnovers on the night and GSU was able to convert those into 26 points. The Trojans managed to hit only 19-of-37 attempts from the charity stripe. The Trojans also shot just 39.6 percent (21-of-53) from the field.

“We shot poorly,” head coach Don Maestri said. “We shot terrible a percentage from the free throw line. I don't know if we have ever shot worse than that.

“There were times when we couldn't capitalize in the last four or five minutes and made it a six-point game and put the pressure back on them. We played hard, but kept missing shot after shot and free throw after free throw. We just didn't play well enough to win.”

The first half went back-and-forth, but Georgia State pulled ahead by five, 29-24, with 4:28 left in the half. Trailing by five with 56 seconds remaining, Troy turned it over and the Panthers drained a 3-pointer in the corner as the first half clock expired to take a 37-29 lead into the locker room.

GSU closed out the first half with an 8-2 run from the 4:14 mark on. Troy made only four of its 10 free throw attempts in the opening half and committed 11 turnovers that Georgia State turned into 19 points.

Levan Patsatsia had tied his career-high scoring mark by halftime and a set a new career-best total with 22 on the night.

“Levan played really well tonight,” Maestri said. “He's a hardnosed player. He played hard every possession on offense and defense. His play has really been a bright spot for us.”

The Panthers opened the second half with a 12-2 run that pushed their lead to 49-31. An 8-0 run by the Trojans closed the gap to 49-39 with 13:17 remaining, but GSU capitalized on a pair of Troy turnovers to score six straight and stop the Trojans' burst.

Troy was again able to cut the deficit to 10 points on three more occasions, the last with 3:20 remaining, but it would be more than three minutes before they got the score lower on a 3-pointer by Vernon Taylor.

Will Weathers set a new career-best mark with 14 points. Javonte Maynor and Dante Curry led the Panthers with 15 points each, respectively.

Troy is in action next on Monday night when it faces UT San Antonio. Tip-off is set for 7 pm.