Troy’s Season Concludes With 87-65 Loss To Duke In The NCAA Tournament

Friday, March 17

Greenville, S.C.

6:20 PM

Troy University

22-15

Duke

28-8

Troy

Duke

Troy’s Season Concludes With 87-65 Loss To Duke In The NCAA Tournament

3/17/2017 10:07:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

Box Score

Greenville, S.C. – Troy trailed by just nine in the second half of the first round of the NCAA tournament, but the Trojans could not overcome No. 2 seed Duke in a 87-65 defeat on Friday night.

The loss marked an end to a season that saw Troy (22-15) win the most games in a season since 2003-04, the third-most Sun Belt wins (10) in team history and the biggest improvement from one season to the next ever.

There were plenty of offensive sparks for the Trojans throughout, but ultimately the athleticism of Duke (28-8) wore Troy down as the Blue Devils hit 13 3-pointers and had four different scorers in double-digits.

Playing in just the second NCAA tournament game in Troy history, the Trojans fell behind 16-4 in the first five minutes of the game behind baskets from five different Blue Devil scorers.

As they did all season, the Trojans slowly began to rally back behind the strong play of Jordon Varnado and Wesley Person. Varnado's jump shot with 7:29 to play in the opening frame cut the deficit to 10 points.

That score stayed relatively on course until Troy went on a 6-0 run with three minutes left in the half to cut Duke's lead to 43-36. Further momentum was ceased as the Blue Devils responded with a 9-2 run topped off by a Grayson Allen 3-pointer with eight seconds left to lead 52-38 at the break.

Varnado burst out of the gate with the first five points of the second half to once again cut the lead back down to nine yet Duke responded with a 7-2 run to negate the solid start to the second half.

Breaking the nine-point barrier proved to be a task that could not be overcome. The combination of Allen—21 points and five 3-pointers—and Jayson Tatum—18 points and 12 rebounds—held Troy from making another late run deep into the game.

Quotable
"We're really proud of the way our guys competed," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "We were concerned about our nerves and I thought it affected us in the first few minutes when we went down 16-4. We fought hard and we kept coming back. We competed. We came back in the second half to cut it to nine. The big thing that stuck out to us about our team all week is that I felt we would play with no fear and we didn't. We played with no fear and were ready to play. I'm just so proud of our guys."

Stat of the Game
Each time Troy needed to get a stop, it seemed as if Duke hit another deadly three. The Blue Devils hit on 13 3-pointers compared to just five for the Trojans. Matt Jones was 3-5 (60 percent) while Grayson Allen was 5-9 (55.5 percent). Wesley Person led the Trojans from deep on 2-5 shooting (40 percent).

Turning Point
The chances of Troy pulling off the double-digit comeback to upset second-seeded Duke took a turn when the Trojans scored only three baskets from the 16:04 mark of the second half until just 8:57 remained in the game. In that span, the Blue Devils rolled off a 13-6 run to lead 72-54.

Noteworthy
• Alex Hicks tied a career-high with 14 points. The forward, who worked his way back from knee surgery last season, was 6-9 from the field, 2-2 from the free-throw line and added six rebounds and a block.

• Troy was hurt by 17 turnovers in the game to just eight by Duke.

• The Trojans were the second-best free-throw shooting team in the conference and that rang true again as Troy went 12-14 (86 percent) at the line.

• Duke shot 8.3 percent worse from the field in the second half and 19.1 percent worse from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes.

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