Person's 25 Not Enough In 88-63 Loss To Arkansas

Saturday, December 16

North Little Rock, Ark.

7 P.M.

Troy University

5-6

Arkansas

8-2

TROY

Arkansas

Person's 25 Not Enough In 88-63 Loss To Arkansas

12/16/2017 9:28:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Wesley Person scored 25 to mark his sixth-straight game of 20 or more, but it would not be enough as Troy fell 88-63 to Arkansas on Saturday night in Verizon Arena.

Things looked good at the beginning as the Trojans (5-6) sprinted out to an 8-2 start behind two Juan Davis, Jr. 3-pointers to stun the sold out crowd of 16,416. That momentum, however, would not last as the Razorbacks (8-2) immediately responded with a show of athleticism.

Arkansas shot 51.3 percent from the field and used that hot touch to take the lead back on a 3-pointer by Daryl Macon with 15:38 left in the first half. That ultimately proved to be the last time Troy led as Arkansas went on a 43-17 run after the Trojans' 8-2 start.

Despite the deficit, the Trojans kept attacking with the duo of Person and Alex Hicks doing the most damage on the night. While Person earned his points with five 3-pointers and a 11-13 free-throw shooting performance, Hicks provided the inside presence with 16 points on 6-12 shooting and 10 rebounds for his third double-double this year.

The Razorbacks made just eight 3-pointers in the contest, but the deep ball wouldn't be necessary as Arkansas shot 62.1 percent (18-29) in the first half fueled by a relentless stream of dunks and 25 points from Daryl Macon.

QUOTABLE
"The game got away from us there midway through the first half," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "Arkansas really got it going and made some threes against our zone. They were really good defensively. They extended their press a little bit more than we thought they would and were a little more aggressive than we thought they'd be.

"I'm proud of our guys. We said at halftime to play like it's 0-0 and until the last 20 seconds of the game we played them even. From our standpoint, that's not a good team to play when you're not at full strength like we are right now."

UP NEXT
The last road non-conference game of the season will see Troy traveling to take on Austin Peay on Tuesday.

NOTEWORTHY
• Despite not having leading rebounder Jordon Varnado for the fifth straight game, Troy was just edged 42-35 in the rebounding battle.

• Kevin Baker, who was second on the team in 3-pointers last season, continued to struggle to find his touch as he had one point on 0-9 shooting from the field and 0-5 from 3-point range.

• Troy got the majority of the scoring from the starters as the Trojans had just 12 bench points.

For more information on Troy men's basketball visit TroyTrojans.com or follow the team on social media at @TroyMensHoops.