Trojans Falter at MTSU

Thursday, January 20

Murfreesboro, TN

7:00 p.m.

Troy University

Middle Tennessee State University

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

1/20/2011 9:05:15 PM | Basketball (M)

Troy Now 0-10 on the road this season.

By: Taylor Bryan

BOX SCORE

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The road proved to be an insurmountable task for Troy once again as the Trojans fell 63-51 to MTSU on Thursday and dropped to 0-10 on the road this season.

Troy (4-14) shot just 32.7 percent from the floor (16-of-49) and committed 16 turnovers as it dropped to 2-4 in Sun Belt play.

The Trojans got within five on multiple occasions, but despite out-scoring the Blue Raiders 29-23 in the second half, their 18-point halftime deficit was too much to overcome.

“It was good to see some resolve in the second half after we opened the game up shell-shocked with such a great start [MTSU] had. They guarded us tonight. They really guarded us. They had challenged their kids to guard our guys as hard as they possibly could.

“When it came down to the nitty gritty, they had the energy. Of course they are at home. Give them all the credit in the world. In the last eight minutes they really played well.”

MTSU controlled the early minutes of the contest and a 3-pointer by James Washington gave the Blue Raiders an 11-0 lead. Jimmy Oden's triple made it 14-0 MTSU with four minutes passed in the opening stanza.

Nearly six minutes passed before the Trojans got on the board with a Bernard Toombs lay-up. The Blue Raiders (8-11, 3-3) answered with three straight 3-pointers by Washington to lead 25-2 with 12 minutes to go before the half.

Troy answered with a 13-2 run to draw within 12, but Kerry Hammonds sank a free throw to end the run. MTSU made it eight straight before Will Weathers sank a free throw of his own.

Regis Huddleston's first 3-pointer pared it to 16, but MTSU got two from Jason Jones to send it to halftime with the Trojans down 40-22.

The Blue Raiders blistered the nets from outside before the intermission connecting on 6-of-11 3-point tries. Troy turned it over 11 times in the first half.

The Men of Troy started the second half with an 11-3 run capped by a three-point play by Weathers. Vernon Taylor's reverse lay-up cut to within nine, 44-35, with 10:22 left.

Taylor, the current Sun Belt Player of the Week, finished with just six points – his second lowest total of the season. He averages more than 15 points per game this season.

Travis Lee's first two treys moved Troy to within five points with 8:14 left.

The Trojans had a chance to draw even closer, but Taylor was called for an offensive foul and the Blue Raiders' scored three straight to widen the MTSU advantage back to 49-41 with 5:53 remaining.

At the 5:20 mark, Patsatsia drew the Trojans within five again, but again MTSU answered, this time with an Oden 3-pointer. After two free throws by Toombs, Hammonds scored three in a row and then a triple by Washington worked the Blue Raiders' lead back to 12 with just north of three minutes remaining.

MTSU out-scored Troy 14-7 over the final five minutes and a lay-up by Levan Patsatsia concluded the scoring. Patsatsia and Weathers finished with nine points each to lead Troy.

Washington scored 20 to pace the Blue Raiders.

For the second time this season the Trojans failed to have a single player reach double-digits in scoring. The feat last occurred against Utah State on December 23. The other most recent occurrence prior to that was against Baylor in November 1997.

Troy plays next on Saturday when they face the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky at 7 pm in Diddle Arena.