Troy Falls to Arkansas State Despite Career Night From Waters

Saturday, January 25

Troy, Ala.

4:15 p.m.

Troy University

8-14,4-7Sun Belt

Arkansas State

15-7,7-4Sun Belt

Arkansas St.

Troy

Photo by: Chris Davis

Troy Falls to Arkansas State Despite Career Night From Waters

1/25/2020 8:24:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score Head Coach Scott Cross Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. -- Despite a career-high 15 points from forward Khalyl Waters (12 in the second half) the Troy Trojans men's basketball program fell to Arkansas State University 78-62 Saturday afternoon at Trojan Arena.

The Trojans (8-14, 4-7 Sun Belt Conference) shot just 29.3 percent from the floor and hit only 6 3-pointers.

Junior Ty Gordon added 14 points and 4 assists, while Waters added the 15 points and 4 rebounds.

For the game, Troy did shoot it well from the foul line, making 22 of 30 attempts.

The Trojans started slowly on Saturday afternoon as Arkansas State (15-7, 7-4 Sun Belt Conference) held Troy to just a Darian Adams 3-pointer over the first six minutes of action. The defensive effort gave the visitors a 10-3 lead.

A 9-4 Troy run highlighted by a Gordon layup cut the Red Wolves lead to just 16-12 with 11:18 remaining in the game.

Over the next 4:45, the Red Wolves used a 15-2 run, to take a 31-14 advantage with 5:52 remaining.

Troy did close the half on an 11-6 run to cut the Arkansas State spread to just 37-25 at the break, but Troy missed its first 10 field goal attempts, as the Red Wolves used a 7-1 run to take a 46-26 advantage with 15:33 remaining.

Back-to-back and-one layups from Waters cut the ASU advantage to just 51-39 with 11:22 remaining, but a quick 5-0 run increased the Ark State lead to 56-39 with 10:28 left.

With 5:36 to play and down 65-45, Gordon drove the lane and was fouled by Antwon Jackson. After heading to the monitors, the officials called a flagrant-two foul that awarded Troy four free-throws and the basketball.

With the momentum back on their side, the Trojans used a 7-1 run in just 46 seconds to cut the ASU lead to 66-53 with 4:36 remaining.

Needing a clutch bucket, the Red Wolves found one, when Marquis Eaton hit his lone 3-pointer of the ballgame to increase the Trojan deficit to 17 points with 3:49 left.

Over the final 3:49, Troy couldn't trim the Arkansas State advantage to fewer than 13 points.

Troy returns to action Thursday evening at Georgia Southern. Tip-off from Statesboro is set for 6 p.m. Central.

HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:
"I thought the game tonight came down to us not hitting enough shots. We gave Arkansas State some easy buckets in the first half because we didn't get back on defense. When we shoot the ball our two guards are supposed to drop back. Arkansas State had a couple of possessions where they slipped by us for wide open layups. Easy baskets get your confidence up, and we didn't have very many easy baskets tonight. That can change the outcome of the game. They got the lead which I think put more pressure on us to make shots. Arkansas State was more energetic than we were and they got after us on the defensive end and made everything tough for us. And then we didn't finish well around the basket. We're the type of team that needs to create offense with our defense and tonight we couldn't do that. I didn't think we were nearly good enough the last couple of days which is on me. I need to find a way to get these guys going. We didn't bring it tonight which is very disappointing."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• After turning the ball over 23 times at Arkansas State back on Jan. 11, the Trojans turned the ball over just 11 times.
• The Red Wolves turned those 11 turnovers into 18 points.
• The Troy bench scored 42 points led by Gordon and Waters.
• Tahj Small scored 10 points tonight. It was his third time reaching double-figures in the last five games.
• Troy shot 9-of-23 on layups tonight (39.1 percent).
• The Trojans did record 16 offensive rebounds on Saturday.
• Nick Stampley recorded another strong rebounding effort, as he grabbed nine boards.
• Troy falls to 3-11 when failing to hit 10 3-pointers.