Troy Falls 78-72 At Home To Georgia State

Saturday, January 28

Troy, Ala.

4:15 PM

Troy University

11-11, 3-5

Georgia State

13-7, 6-2

Georgia State

Troy

1/28/2017 7:17:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

Box Score

TROY, Alabama – After winning on the road on Monday at Little Rock, Troy was unable to keep pace with Georgia State back home on Saturday in a 78-72 loss in Trojan Arena.

The Trojans (11-11, 3-5) led for just 3:35 in the game and trailed the Panthers (13-7, 6-2) by 14 at the half. It marked only the third double-digit deficit at half on the season.

Though Troy trailed by 10 with 1:05 to go, quick shooting from 3-point range gave the Trojans a chance to pull off an epic comeback. D'Marcus Simonds, who led all scorers with 26 points on 12-17 shooting, scored on a layup to gain the 10-point lead, but Wesley Person responded with a three just seven seconds later to get the deficit to seven.

On the ensuing play, Troy was able to disrupt Georgia State's inbound pass as Daniel Peace came away with a steal. Peace dished it to Person who knocked down another three pointer—one of seven on the night—to get the lead to four with 49 seconds remaining.

Troy attempted to get another steal on the next possession but was unable to and was forced to foul Georgia State. Jeremy Hollowell hit two free throws to get the Panthers' lead back up to six with 37 seconds left.

Any other magic was not to be as Kevin Baker turned it over after the free throws. Person hit two more free throws to once again get it to within four with 17 seconds to go, but it wasn't enough time as Georgia State held on to take the road win.

The comeback effort was fueled by 50 percent shooting (15-30) in the second half. That may not have been necessary if the Trojans didn't shoot just 35 percent (7-20) in the opening frame.

A 3-pointer by Jeremy Hollimon had Troy trailing 21-19 with slightly less than six minutes left in the first half. From there, the Panthers went on a 15-1 run to go into the break with the lead and the momentum.

While the baskets took a bit to fall, Georgia State's lead was sparked by a massive night from Simonds. After Jordon Varnado and Alex Hicks dominated the paint against Little Rock, the script was flipped as Simonds continually went to the basket en route to his 26 points. The Panthers had a 46-20 advantage on points in the paint.

Quotable
"You can't go down 14 at the half to a team as talented as Georgia State," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "They're really playing at a high level tonight. We got a taste of (D'Marcus) Simonds tonight. He was a different level player. He not only looked like the freshman of the year, he looked like the player of the year in the league tonight. He was really good. The game got away from us at the end of the first half. We didn't play very well in the first half and that made us play from behind in the second half."

Stat of the Game
The play in the paint was the difference in the game. Troy had a +14 margin in the paint on Monday but that fell to -26 against Georgia State on Saturday. Only two players, Person and Hollimon, scored in double-digits. Jordon Varnado had just nine points on 4-7 shooting with six rebounds. Juan Davis, Jr. fouled out in the second half and Alex Hicks scored just two points in the game.

Turning Point
Two free throws by Jeremy Hollimon had Troy down 60-57 with 6:06 on the clock. That would be as low as the lead would get for the rest of the game. A 3-pointer by Jeff Thomas just two minutes later would put the Panthers up 10 with 4:11 remaining. Troy's effort to come back was made more difficult by the 16 turnovers committed on the night, which includes Baker's turnover in the final minute when Troy trailed by just six.

Noteworthy
• The 26 points by D'Marcus Simonds was just one point shy of the season-high against Troy this season. That was set by both Matt Morgan of Cornell and Justin James of Wyoming.

• Wesley Person's seven 3-pointers were the second most of his career. His career high of 10 was set two weeks ago to the day against UT Arlington.

• Jeremy Hollimon increased his double-digit scoring streak to 16 games. The senior had 16 points on 4-9 shooting from the field and 6-8 shooting from the free throw line.

Up Next
The Trojans will stay home with a game against Georgia State on Monday. For more information on Troy men's basketball, follow the team on social media at @TroyMensHoops or visit TroyTrojans.com.