Balanced Effort Pushes Troy Past Carver College

Monday, November 18

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

1-3,0-0Sun Belt

Carver

0-6

Carver

Troy University

Photo by: Chris Davis

Balanced Effort Pushes Troy Past Carver College

11/18/2019 9:02:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score Carver Gallery (Davis)Photo Gallery

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – The Troy Trojans basketball team defeated Carver Bible College 84-57 Monday night at Trojan Arena behind a complete team effort.

Five different Trojans scored in double-figures led by reserves Tyrek Williams (10 points) and Davion Thomas (14 points, five rebounds) who both set new career highs.

Sophomore KJ Simon contributed 11 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double, while guard Darian Adams added 11 and five assists.

The victory is the first for new Troy head coach Scott Cross at Troy and marks the second consecutive year that Troy has beaten Carver.

The Trojans started quickly Monday evening, using an early 19-3 run to take control of the first half. Three Trojans scored at least eight first half points, including Thomas who nailed a pair of key 3-point field goals in the final moments of the half to push Troy to a 41-25 lead at the break.

In the second half of the game, the Trojans shot a near perfect 12-13 from the line, scoring 43 of the teams 84 points.

For the game Troy shot 31-70 (44.3 percent) from the field and assisted on 17 of 31 made baskets and had eight players score at least six points on the night.

In total, nine Trojans scored at least one point, as the Trojans made 30 field goals for the first time since Feb. 2, 2019 at South Alabama.

Troy returns to action on Wednesday night at Texas A&M. Tip-off against the Aggies is set for 7 p.m.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:
• Five Trojans scored at least 10 points for the first time since Feb. 8, 2018 against Arkansas State.
• The Trojans scored 50 points in the paint, shooting 22-35 on those shots.
• Tonight Troy forced 22 Carver turnovers.
• Troy has defeated Carver by 72 combined points over two meetings. Troy defeated the Cougars 88-43 a season ago.
• Troy rebounded 16 of its 39 misses tonight (41 percent).
• The Trojans have now recorded a positive turnover-to-assist ratio in three of four games this season.
• Troy is averaging 16.5 assists-per-game this season.
• Simon's double-double was the first double-double by a Trojan since Alex Hicks recorded one at South Alabama last Feb. 23.
• Three Trojans are averaging at least 10-points-per-game. Zay Williams is averaging a team-best 17.3 points, followed by Adams (12.5) and Simon (10.8).
• Tyrek Williams made his first career field goal tonight.
• Zay Williams is now 25-42 in the last three games from the field (59.5 percent).
• Atakan Sahinkaya earned his first career start this evening, contributing six points, four rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes.
• Troy shot just 3-19 from three tonight.
• It was the worst three-point percentage since the Trojans shot .154 in an overtime loss to Austin Peay (Nov. 29, 2018).
• After shooting 30-61 from the line in the first three games, the Trojans were markedly better tonight, shooting 19-26 from the stripe (73 percent)
• The Trojans had shot 13-30 from the line in the previous two home games (43.3 percent).
• Troy broke out their new white uniforms for the first time this season.
• The Trojans led for 39:27 tonight.

HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:
"Tonight was a step in the right direction for our team. I'm proud of our guys because they played hard tonight. The first win of the year is always the hardest to get so hopefully this will propel us into a bit of a streak. I believe in this team. We bought in and did the little things well tonight, and the hustle was definitely there. We played pretty well on the defensive end and shot our free throws well in the second half which is a big positive. We didn't shoot the three well tonight, which probably prevented us for scoring a bit more. Tonight, was a recipe for us to be successful. We need to limit our turnovers and spread the ball around. And then we need multiple guys in double-figures because we don't that one guy who is going to score 25 or 30 a night. We do have a bunch of guys that can hit shots and make plays. We need to defend and score as a team. We're not going to out physical opponents, so we need to do it as a unit."

On the performance of Tyrek Williams:
"Before Tyrek got injured over the summer, he was dominating our practices. We couldn't guard him. We were so excited about his potential and felt he could be one of the best post players in our league. His injury really set him back and hurt his conditioning. He's starting to slowly work his way back into form and tonight should help his confidence. He's load down there who knows how to put the ball in the basket for us. He can pass out of the paint too which can create opportunities for other guys."