Troy University Athletics
Thursday, January 7
Atlanta, Ga.
6:30 p.m.
Troy University
at
Georgia State
Players Mentioned
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/ Basketball (M)
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/ Basketball (M)
G
/ Basketball (M)
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/ Basketball (M)
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/ Basketball (M)
Men’s Hoops Hits the Road for Sun Belt Double Dip
1/6/2016 11:45:00 AM | Basketball (M)
TROY, Alabama – After dropping a pair of close home games to open Sun Belt Conference play last week, the Troy men's basketball team travels to Georgia for a pair of league games this week beginning with Georgia State on Thursday night in the GSU Sports Arena.
The men's game is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. (CST) and is the second of a doubleheader with the Troy and Georgia State women, which is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and Barry McKnight will have the radio call on the Troy Sports Radio Network.
Troy (5-8, 0-2) heads to Atlanta looking to break out of a mini-slump that has seen the Trojans drop five of their last six games. All five of those losses have come by fewer than 10 points and the last three have been by a combined 10 points; Troy has led at the half of each of its last three games.
Offensively, Troy continues to be paced by its young duo of sophomore Wesley Person and freshman Jordon Varnado. Person ranks fifth in the league averaging 17.4 points per game and Varnado is sixth scoring at a 17.3 per- game clip; the pair is separated by just one overall point.
Varnado reached double figures for the 12th time in 13 games this season as he scored a team-high 18 points and just missed out on his sixth double-double as he finished with nine rebounds against Little Rock this past Saturday. Person finished with nine points and a career-high tying seven rebounds, it was just the sixth time in his career he failed to reach the 10-point plateau.
Junior Jeremy Hollimon has been deadly from 3-point range since the fourth game of the season, as he has connected on 42 percent (21-of-50) of his attempts over the past nine games. Hollimon is averaging 12.5 points per game for the Trojans in addition to pulling down 3.5 rebounds.
Troy features the fifth-best scoring offense in the Sun Belt and prior to the game against Little Rock, who was the nation's top scoring defense, the Trojans had scored 80-plus points in three straight games.
The Trojans hold an advantage over the Panthers from behind the 3-point line where Troy has hit 98 from beyond the arc this year compared to just 49 from Georgia State. Troy has also had a lot of success disrupting its opponents passing lanes, as the Trojans are third in the league in steals with 8.2 per contest.
Point guard Daniel Peace ranks third in the league with 1.9 steals per game, while Hollimon is tied for seventh with 1.7 steals per game. Peace has also done a good job distributing the basketball with 3.6 assists per game, which ranks fifth in the league. Senior forward John Walton III ranks fifth in the league with 8.1 rebounds per game.
Georgia State (8-3, 1-1) split its conference opening road trip to Texas as the Panthers lost their opener to UT Arlington before knocking off Texas State on Saturday. GSU's 8-3 record is tied for its second-best 11-game start in school history and the Panthers are currently ranked No. 38 in the latest NCAA RPI.
The Panthers carry a 12-game home winning streak into Thursday's contest, which is the 21st-longest active streak in the country. Junior Jeremy Hollowell leads Georgia State with 14.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while Kevin Ware averages 12.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
For more information on Troy men's basketball, follow the Trojans on Twitter and Instagram at @TroyMensHoops.
For more information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find the Trojans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat by searching for Troy Athletics.
The men's game is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. (CST) and is the second of a doubleheader with the Troy and Georgia State women, which is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and Barry McKnight will have the radio call on the Troy Sports Radio Network.
Troy (5-8, 0-2) heads to Atlanta looking to break out of a mini-slump that has seen the Trojans drop five of their last six games. All five of those losses have come by fewer than 10 points and the last three have been by a combined 10 points; Troy has led at the half of each of its last three games.
Offensively, Troy continues to be paced by its young duo of sophomore Wesley Person and freshman Jordon Varnado. Person ranks fifth in the league averaging 17.4 points per game and Varnado is sixth scoring at a 17.3 per- game clip; the pair is separated by just one overall point.
Varnado reached double figures for the 12th time in 13 games this season as he scored a team-high 18 points and just missed out on his sixth double-double as he finished with nine rebounds against Little Rock this past Saturday. Person finished with nine points and a career-high tying seven rebounds, it was just the sixth time in his career he failed to reach the 10-point plateau.
Junior Jeremy Hollimon has been deadly from 3-point range since the fourth game of the season, as he has connected on 42 percent (21-of-50) of his attempts over the past nine games. Hollimon is averaging 12.5 points per game for the Trojans in addition to pulling down 3.5 rebounds.
Troy features the fifth-best scoring offense in the Sun Belt and prior to the game against Little Rock, who was the nation's top scoring defense, the Trojans had scored 80-plus points in three straight games.
The Trojans hold an advantage over the Panthers from behind the 3-point line where Troy has hit 98 from beyond the arc this year compared to just 49 from Georgia State. Troy has also had a lot of success disrupting its opponents passing lanes, as the Trojans are third in the league in steals with 8.2 per contest.
Point guard Daniel Peace ranks third in the league with 1.9 steals per game, while Hollimon is tied for seventh with 1.7 steals per game. Peace has also done a good job distributing the basketball with 3.6 assists per game, which ranks fifth in the league. Senior forward John Walton III ranks fifth in the league with 8.1 rebounds per game.
Georgia State (8-3, 1-1) split its conference opening road trip to Texas as the Panthers lost their opener to UT Arlington before knocking off Texas State on Saturday. GSU's 8-3 record is tied for its second-best 11-game start in school history and the Panthers are currently ranked No. 38 in the latest NCAA RPI.
The Panthers carry a 12-game home winning streak into Thursday's contest, which is the 21st-longest active streak in the country. Junior Jeremy Hollowell leads Georgia State with 14.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while Kevin Ware averages 12.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
For more information on Troy men's basketball, follow the Trojans on Twitter and Instagram at @TroyMensHoops.
For more information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find the Trojans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat by searching for Troy Athletics.
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