Troy Rally Falls Short in 80-74 Loss to USF

Thursday, December 1

Troy, Ala.

7 P.M.

Troy University

3-4

USF

4-2

South Florida

Troy

Troy Rally Falls Short in 80-74 Loss to USF

12/1/2016 10:05:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

Box Score

TROY, Alabama – Troy trailed USF by just five after being down by as much as 21, but it wasn't enough as the Trojans fell at home 80-74 on Thursday night in Trojan Arena.

Down 48-27 just two minutes into the second half, the comeback didn't start immediately as USF (4-2) led by double-digits until a 3-pointer by Wesley Person with 5:31 left cut the lead to nine.

The Bulls maintained the lead down the stretch, but a 20-second span near the end of the game got Troy (3-4) as close as they would get on the night to pulling off the comeback.

DeVon Walker grabbed an offensive rebound and converted on a layup to cut the lead to 67-60 with 2:31 to go. On the following possession, USF turned it over and Walker again got a layup to get it to 67-62.

Both teams went scoreless for the following minute before Geno Thorpe, who had a team-high 22 points on the night, hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired that proved to be the final nail in the coffin in Trojan's comeback effort.

The rally was sparked by 47.1 percent shooting in the second half, but it may not have been necessary in the first place if not for the huge half USF had to open the game.

Thorpe and Troy Holston combined for 37 points and five 3-pointers and fueled the Bulls to 43 first-half points, which was the most points Troy had allowed in either half this season.

After leading for 38:36 against Hawai'ii, it was nearly a complete flip in the Trojans' return back home after a four-game stretch away. USF led for 38:48 of the contest and held a double-digit lead from 9:24 in the first half to 5:31 in the second half.

Troy had five score in double-digits. Jeremy Hollimon led the team with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Wesley Person had 14 points, Walker had 12, Jordon Varnado had 11 and Juan Davis, Jr. had 10.

Quotable
"I can't say that I didn't see this coming because I feel like the travel from Hawai'i and back this weekend affected us, but that's not an excuse," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "More importantly, I feel like we didn't have the focus that you have to have in practice the previous days. We told the team about it and warned them about it yesterday. I don't know if it's feeling good about the Hawaii game or thinking we could beat South Florida because we went down there and beat them last year. It's unexplainable as a coach, but we didn't come out ready to play. We were flat. We had no energy. They beat us up inside."

Stat of the Game
USF shot 49.2 percent on the night, which represents the second-best shooting night an opponent has had against Troy this season. The Bulls only hit eight 3-pointers on the night, but those proved to be costly as the Trojans allowed them to shoot 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from deep. Holston, Thorpe and Tulio Da Silva all had double-digit scoring nights for USF. The Bulls also outscored the Trojans 34-20 in the paint on the night.

Turning Point
After DeVon Walker scored to cut the lead to five with 2:10 left, it marked the end of a 15-3 run Troy went on to close the gap. After scoring those 15 points in a nearly four minute span, the Trojans did not score again until there were only 34 seconds left. Following the Walker score, Jordon Varnado got a steal on the Bulls' possession, but he turned it over 10 seconds later and the Bulls' grabbed two offensive rebounds on the other end before a Thorpe layup put the game out of reach.

Noteworthy
• DeVon Walker's 12 points and 10 rebounds marked the first time he has had a double-double in a Troy uniform.

• Jeremy Hollimon's team-leading 15 points marked the first time he was Troy's leading scorer since he had 26 at ULM on Jan. 21, 2016.

• It was only the second time this season that Troy has been outscored in the paint with the UAB game being the other time.

• The Trojans had clutch back-to-back 3-pointers by Jordon Varnado and Wesley Person to cut the lead to nine, but Troy was just 11-of-30 (36.7 percent) on the night.

Up Next
Troy will have a quick turnaround as Alabama State comes to town on Sunday for a matchup at 5:15 p.m. in Trojan Arena. For more information on Troy men's basketball, follow the team on social media at @TroyMensHoops and visit TroyTrojans.com.