Troy Falls In Final Minute 63-59 To Texas State

Saturday, February 25

San Marcos, Texas

4:30 PM

Troy University

16-13, 8-7SBC

Texas State

16-11, 9-6SBC

Troy

Texas State

Troy Falls In Final Minute 63-59 To Texas State

2/25/2017 8:14:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

Box Score

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Troy had the ball with a chance to tie or potentially win it with the shot clock off, but Kevin Baker's 3-point attempt was off the mark and Texas State won at home 63-59 on Saturday.

Offense was hard to come by for a Troy (16-13, 8-7) squad that shot 41.1 percent from the field, most of which came off of a game-high 24 points from Jordon Varnado's 11-17 shooting.

Even with the lack of firepower, the Trojans found themselves trailing the Bobcats (16-11, 9-6) by just four with 2:54 to play. Both teams went scoreless for a minute and a half before a Wesley Person layup cut the deficit to two with 1:21 to play.

Troy then suffered through a string of unfortunate plays. At the end of the shot clock on Texas State's next possession, Nedeljiko Prijovic missed an open jumper, but he then dived after it as it went out of bounds and launched it into the air.

Instead of the Trojans regaining possession, Texas State came up with it at half court and restarted the shot clock. Jeremy Hollimon eventually committed a foul to send the Bobcats to the free-throw line.

Kavin Gilder-Tilbury missed the first of the one-and-one, but Nijal Pearson grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Kevin Baker to go head to the line.

Pearson was able to connect on both shots to get the lead up to four. However, just two seconds later Kevin Baker responded with a quick 3-pointer to cut the advantage to one with 17 seconds on the clock.

Daniel Peace quickly fouled Ojai Black to send Texas State back to the charity stripe. The Bobcats' woes from the line continued as Black only hit the second free throw to give Troy a chance to tie it or win it with the shot clock off.

Baker, who just two weeks ago had the game-winning 3-pointer against ULM, launched one from downtown for the potential win, but it was off the mark. Pearson grabbed the rebound and dished it to Gilder-Tilbury, Texas State's leading scorer with 19, who iced the game with an uncontested layup.

Quotable
"When you play Texas State, you can expect a low-scoring, physical type of game and that was the case tonight," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "I thought we showed a lot of resiliency in the second half just to stay in the game. There were a coupe of times where they led by six or eight, but we wouldn't go away. We kept fighting, we made some plays and we were good in our full-court press.

"I'm just disappointed in that last possession and Kevin Baker's decision making. He had just made a big three, but we were down by four and needed a quick basket. When he hit the game-winner against ULM, he had no choice, but this case was different. Kevin has to learn from this. They called timeout after the free throw to go up two, so we had time to draw up a play in the timeout.

"He came down and made a choice thinking he was going to hit another shot to win the game. He's capable of doing that--he did it on the previous possession--but that was a different case here. We would rather Kevin run the play we drew up so that we can get a higher-percentage shot. He's going to learn from that. That was a disappointing way to end the game. We fought so hard and had a chance to win it."

Stat of the Game
Jeremy Hollimon had 12 points off the bench, Wesley Person had 11, but it was largely a one-sided offensive effort by Jordon Varnado. Varnado had 18 points at half but only scored six in the second half while facing double teams for the majority of the final 20 minutes. Outside of those three, no other player for Troy scored more than five points. Of the other three starters, Kevin Baker was 1-8 from the field, DeVon Walker was 0-5 and Juan Davis, Jr., was 1-5.

Turning Point
While the Trojans struggled to find another offensive weapon with Varnado being double-teamed, the Bobcats got the lead as high as nine in the second half. Texas State came into the game ranked first in the Sun Belt in scoring defense at 63.0 points per game, which forced Troy into contested shots throughout the game. The Trojans also had multiple defensive mishaps, as the Bobcats were able to get numerous open or easy shots.

Noteworthy
• The loss snaps Troy's four-game winning streak in conference play. A win would have elevated Troy to fifth place in the Sun Belt with Coastal Carolina losing earlier in the day.

• The 24 points from Jordon Varnado marked the ninth time this season the forward has scored 20 or more this season and the fifth game in a row he led Troy in points.

• It was a tight game throughout as the lead changed or the game was tied 14 different times. Troy led for 12:35 compared to 20:04 by Texas State.

Up Next
Troy will play in the final away regular season game of the season against UT Arlington on Monday. For more information on Troy men's basketball, follow the team on social media at @TroyMensHoops or visit TroyTrojans.com.