Turnovers Hurt Trojans in Extra Session Setback at Arkansas State

Saturday, January 11

Jonesboro, Ark.

4 p.m.

Troy University

7-11, 3-4SBC

Arkansas State

12-6, 4-3SBC

OT 1

Troy

Arkansas State

Turnovers Hurt Trojans in Extra Session Setback at Arkansas State

1/11/2020 8:10:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

JONESBORO, Ark. -- Despite going on a 26-12 run over an 11-minute stretch in the second half, the Troy Trojans fell 76-68 in overtime to the Arkansas State Red Wolves Saturday afternoon at First National Bank Arena.

The Trojans, who led the Sun Belt Conference contest 57-47 with 5:39 remaining, were outscored 29-11 over the final 5:39 of regulation and the five-minute extra session. The Trojans were plagued by 23 total turnovers.

Junior Darian Adams scored 20 points (ties career high), while Tahj Small added a career-best 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. The loss snapped a two-game winning for the Trojans.

The Trojans (7-11, 3-4 Sun Belt) and Red Wolves were locked in a tight contest Saturday afternoon, with neither side taking more than a two-point lead over the first 10 minutes of action.

With the score tied at 10 with 11:12 left in the half, the Red Wolves (12-6, 4-3 Sun Belt) went on a 17-7 run to take a 27-17 lead with 3:38 remaining in the first half.

Over the next 2:10, the Trojans used a 9-1 run to cut the Arkansas State lead to just 28-26.

Troy went into the break trailing by that same 28-26 scoreline, marking the first time in eight games (Jacksonville State, Dec. 11) that the Trojans trailed at the half.

Following the break, Arkansas State took a brief 30-26 lead, before the Trojans got hot from the field. In total, Troy used a 22-8 outburst to take a 10-point lead with 11:05 reaming.

Over that stretch, Troy shot 8-of-10 from the field, making three 3-pointers and all three free-throw attempts.

The Trojans continued to execute on the offensive end over the next four minutes, as Troy hit another two 3-pointers to take a 12-point advantage with 6:59 left in the ballgame.

An Adams three gave Troy a 57-47 advantage with 5:39 left in the game, but Arkansas State quickly cut the Troy lead in half at the 4:09 mark (57-52).

Arkansas State extended its run to 12-0 over the next three minutes, taking a slim 59-57 lead with 1:51 left.

After a pair of Desmond Williams (9 points) free throws tied the game at 59-59, junior Nick Stampley took his fourth charge of the ball game to give the Trojans possession with 90 ticks left.

On the ensuing Trojan possession, Williams missed a 3-pointer, and Arkansas State was able to secure the rebound, drawing a foul with 39 seconds left. Arkansas State went on to make both free throws to take a two-point lead.

Down 61-59 with 22 seconds left, Adams drove the lane, absorbed contact from an ASU defender and made a tough 10-foot floater. The guard missed his and-one free throw attempt, as Arkansas State corralled the loose ball and advanced the ball into the front-court before calling timeout with 14 seconds left.

After the time out, Troy forced a contested jumper that the Red Wolves missed. After the miss, Stampley secured the rebounded and shuttled it to Adams, who attempted a 40-footer that hit the rim and didn't fall.

In the extra session, Arkansas State scored the first 10 points of the period, holding Troy scoreless over the first 4:06 of overtime to take a 71-61 lead.

The Trojans cut the Arkansas State advantage to just six (74-68) with :09 seconds left, but Caleb Fields iced the game with a pair of free throws.

In total, the Red Wolves enjoyed a 38-11 advantage in free-throw attempts and grabbed six more offensive rebounds. Troy made 9-of-11 free-throw attempts, while the Red Wolves shot 25-of-38 from the stripe.

Troy returns to action on Thursday when first-place Georgia Southern visits Trojan Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.

HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:
"This is a game we should have won. We were up 10 points with five minutes left in the game. We turned the ball over too much down the stretch, which didn't allow us to set up our defense. The 12-0 run that Arkansas State went on down the stretch completely changed the game. We became passive late in the game and missed some shots. I thought we weren't aggressive enough and didn't do a good job of attacking the basket. The bottom line is, it's hard to win on the road when you turn the ball over 23 times. Our goal for turnovers is 12, so turning the ball over 23 times is very disappointing. When you further break it down, 19 of our turnovers resulted in a steal for them, which means they were live ball turnovers. When you do that, you allow the other team to have an advantage going the other way. They only scored 12 points on our half-court set defense which means we did a great job of defending them there. But when you turn the ball over and make it easy on the other team, it's hard to be successful. If we could have run the shot-clock out down the stretch and held onto the basketball, we probably would have won this game. You can't pass the ball to the other team and allow them to have numbers going forward in the fast break. That's a tough way to be successful."

On the second half surge:
"We hit shots. [Davion] "Tree" [Thomas] got hot for us and hit back-to-back, then DA and Tahj [Small] hit a couple of threes. We hit shots and got stops defensively which is always a good combination."

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:
• The Trojans have enjoyed at least a 10-point lead in six of their seven conference games this season.
• Troy falls to 0-2 in overtime this season. The Trojans also fell in overtime at Chattanooga (Dec. 15).
• 64 of Arkansas State's 76 points occurred either from a Troy turnover, the free-throw line or a second chance opportunity.
• The Trojans and Red Wolves played an overtime contest in Jonesboro for the second consecutive season. Troy defeated Arkansas State 90-85 a season ago.
• Troy turned the ball over at least 20 times for the first time since they turned the ball over 22 times against Georgia Southern last season (Feb. 15).
• Arkansas State turned the 23 Trojan turnovers into 30 points. They outscored Troy 30-11 on points off turnovers.
• The Trojans recorded just 10 assists on 25 made field goals. The 10 assists are the fewest since Troy recorded nine at Texas A&M (Nov. 20).
• Troy shot 50 percent from the field in the second half.
• Adams scored 53 points in three games this week. Adams has scored 68 points in four games, and has recorded at least 10 points in eight of his last nine games.
• Ty Gordon failed to reach 10 points for the first time since Dec. 21 against App State (four games).
• Gordon failed to hit a 3-pointer for the first time since Dec. 4 against North Alabama (eight games).
• Troy falls to 0-3 on Saturday games in conference play.