Second Half Downs Troy

Thursday, February 7

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

10-12, 3-7SBC

Little Rock

8-15, 3-7SBC

Little Rock

Troy

2/7/2019 8:47:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

Troy, Ala. – Troy was unable to slow down hot-shooting Little Rock in the second half and dropped an 84-70 decision in Sun Belt Conference men's basketball action inside of Trojan Arena on Thursday night.

The Trojans (10-12, 3-7 Sun Belt) posted a decent shooting night at 49.1 percent (26-of-53) but Little Rock (8-15, 3-7 Sun Belt) caught fire in the second half, knocking down 22-of-28 (78.6 percent) shots and posted 77.8 percent (7-of-9) from three.

Sophomore Javan Johnson led the Trojans with 16 points including four made three-pointers. Johnson added six rebounds, a career-high three steals, an assist and a block to his stat line.

Sophomore Darian Adams scored 15 points on 6-of-10 (60 percent) shooting from the field with four assists and two rebounds while sophomore Malik Burnett posted a career-high 10 points on a perfect 3-of-3 from the field.

Troy fell behind early in the first half, trailing by as many as eight (20-12) with 10:14 remaining. The Trojans used a furious 16-0 run over the next 5:24 to gain a 28-20 lead which led to a 36-30 lead at the break.

Little Rock came out firing in the second half and tied the game at 40 apiece at the first media timeout. Little Rock would take a 43-40 lead at 15:31 and never looked back to complete the regular-season sweep of Troy.

Little Rock's Rayjon Tucker led all scorers with 24 points alongside six rebounds and a steal.

QUOTING COACH CUNNINGHAM
"It was a disappointing second half. To play so well without Jordon (Varnado) in the first half I was really pleased at halftime and excited about where we were at in the game. I thought we had great energy defensively, we were moving; offensively we were good, we went small and were able to score on them."

"The second half was a totally different story. Little Rock made some adjustments in their zone offense and they cut our zone up early and made a couple of threes. Nothing could slow them down in the second half and the stats show the whole story and you have no chance at winning when you give up a shooting percentage like that."

QUICK HITS
- Adams has posted at least three assists in eight out of the last nine games (four tonight)
- Burnett's three field goals made ties his career best and his three free throws made marks a personal best
- Troy's 50 percent (11-of-22) clip from three marked the second time this season that the Trojans shot 50 percent or better from behind the arc

UP NEXT
Troy welcomes Arkansas State to Trojan Arena on Saturday at 2 p.m. with the game broadcast live on ESPN+.