Troy Drops Its First of a Two-Game Series to South Alabama

Thursday, January 27

Mobile, Ala.

7 p.m.

Troy University

13-7,4-3Sun Belt

South Alabama

15-5,5-2Sun Belt

Troy

South Alabama

Teammates help Zay Williams up to his feet

Troy Drops Its First of a Two-Game Series to South Alabama

1/27/2022 10:49:00 PM | Basketball (M)

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

MOBILE, Ala. - Troy was outscored 25-11 in the final 9:31 of the game to lose the first of a two-game series against South Alabama, 82-63, Thursday at the Mitchell Center in Sun Belt Conference action. Troy will have a chance to bounceback as the Jaguars visit Trojan Arena on Saturday at 6 p.m.

The Trojans (12-7, 4-3 SBC) find themselves on their first losing streak of the season after allowing the Jaguars to shoot 50.1 percent to their 33.9 percent.

Troy had two players (Christian Turner - 13, Khalyl Waters - 11) come off the bench and score double figures. Turner's 13 points on 5-of-6 from the charity stripe tied a career-high in points and surpassed his free-throws made.

For the Jaguars (15-5, 5-2 SBC), it was the usual suspects in Jay Jay Chandler (26) and Charles Manning Jr. (19) leading the way. As a result, the Jaguars find themselves rising in the Sun Belt standings to second behind Appalachian State, riding a five-game win streak.

Another Late Run
Duke Deen banged in a shot from the Jaguar logo to bring the deficit to five with 11:02 remaining, resulting in a critical timeout for USA.

Just when it seemed like the Trojans had stolen the momentum, the Jaguars came out of the break on a mission, jumping to a 12-point lead after a 9-2 run.

From there, things got ugly as the Jaguars stretched their lead to as much as 21 with 1:34 left in the ballgame.

In the last 11:02, the Trojans shot 1-of-16 with six turnovers.

Gritty First Half
Both teams battled back-and-forth throughout the first half, with neither team breaking through. The largest lead for either side was six points in favor of the Jaguars - acquired to end the half.

The Trojans brought the lead down to one with 1:41 remaining before the Jaguars took the momentum going into the break, 39-33.

Kayo Goncalves nailed a second-chance shot from deep to pull the lead to four before the Jaguars finished the half with a pullup jumper by Chandler.

Turner led the Trojans in the first half, scoring eight points of his 13 while the team shot 44 percent from the field.

Statement From Assistant Coach Kenneth Mangrum
"We didn't play good enough to win. It's disappointing. Anytime you lose, no matter who it is. And when you lose to your rival, it's very disappointing. I mean, they play well. Hats off to South Alabama. They had a great game plan. I know one of the things is fastbreak points; it was 23 to two. We can't allow that. We can't let them get out in transition and score on us."

"We had 19 turnovers, and we can't turn the ball over 19 times and expect to beat a team that's good. Like, they're really good. And you shoot yourself in the foot. You're giving yourself a deficit every time. We got to watch the film, and once we've broken it down, we'll be able to adjust our game plan to Saturday's game."

Numbers to Navigate
• This marks the seventh straight game Troy has lost to USA - the longest streak in the series history.
• After going 0-of-2 from the field, Desmond Williams is scoreless in three-straight games - the longest drought in his career.
• The Trojans lost the fastbreak game, allowing the Jaguars to score 23 points on the fastbreak compared to their two.
• The Trojans lost the game by 19 points - the largest loss in series history.

See You Soon
The teams wrap up the home-and-home series Saturday at Trojan Arena; tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.