Williams’ Season-High Not Enough as Troy Falls at UAB

Sunday, December 6

Birmingham, Ala.

2 p.m.

Troy University

1-3,0-0Sun Belt

UAB

-40,00 CUSA

Troy

UAB

Williams’ Season-High Not Enough as Troy Falls at UAB

12/6/2020 5:39:00 PM | Basketball (M)

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Despite a season-best 17 points from junior Zay Williams and 14 points from Khalyl Waters, the Troy men's basketball program fell, 77-55, Sunday afternoon to the UAB Blazers at Bartow Arena.

After shooting 40 percent from the field in the first period, Troy (1-3) was held to just 6-of-29 (20.7 percent) in the second half.

Following a slow start that saw the Trojans fall behind 11-0 five minutes in, Troy quickly answered with a quick 10-6 stretch that cut the Blazers (4-0) lead to just 17-10 with 11:46 to play in the opening period.

After UAB used a quick 11-2 spurt to open a 30-13 lead with 7:43 to play, Troy took advantage of a 10-2 run to cut the UAB deficit to 32-23 with 5:06 left in the opening half.

As they did all afternoon long, UAB responded with one last 6-0 run to take a 15-point advantage with 2:54 to play in the period.

Three straight layups from Zay Williams, Duke Miles and Antwan Burnett cut the UAB lead to 40-29 with 29 ticks left, but a foul of Michael Ertel allowed the Blazers to extend the lead to 42-29 at the break.

UAB seized control of the contest early in the second half using a 15-3 span to take a game-high 25-point (57-32) advantage with 13:14 to play.

A made layup by Nick Stampley sparked an 8-0 run that pulled Troy within 17 points (57-40), but the Trojans managed just 15 points over the final 10:26 of game action.

Troy made just 4-of-21 3-point attempts and managed just one assist in the second period of action.

The Trojans return to action Thursday night at North Alabama. Tip-off from Florence is set for 6 p.m.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
• Waters' 14 points are the second-most he's scored in his career. The Georgia native had 15 points at South Alabama (Feb. 29) last season.
• The senior was a perfect 5-for-5 from the line.
• Troy managed a season-best eight steals. Woods and Miles each had three.
• After scoring 41 points in the Trojans first three games (two games in double-figures), Bessemer native Kam Woods managed just five points in his homecoming. He shot 1-for-10 from the field.
• Williams' 17 points are the most he's scored in a game since he had 28 points at Indiana last season (Nov. 17).

HEAD COACH SCOTT CROSS:
"We didn't shoot the ball very well today. When you shoot 20 percent from the field like we did today, it's going to be tough to win basketball games. The bottom line is: we have to get better. We've had a long road trip, and we need to get back to work on finding a way to hit open shots. We had quite a few good looks, especially in the second half, that we need to hit. Our guys did fight back, and our 2-2-1 press to our matchup zone gave them problems, but we just couldn't get over the hump. We need to be better; that's the bottom line. We'll do some soul searching before Thursday's game at North Alabama."