Troy University Athletics
Saturday, January 28
Mobile, Ala.
3 p.m.
Troy University
13-10,5-5Sun Belt
60
at
77
South Alabama
9-13,3-7Sun Belt
1
2
F
Troy
25
35
60
South Alabama
37
40
77
South Alabama’s Hot Shooting Tops the Trojans
1/28/2023 6:12:00 PM | Basketball (M)
MOBILE, Ala. – Despite a 15-point offensive explosion in the second half from Christyon Eugene, Troy couldn't fight back, falling to rival South Alabama, 77-60 on Saturday afternoon in the Mitchell Center.
The Trojans (13-10, 5-5 SBC) continue to fall down the standings this weekend as they sit tied for eighth with Old Dominion. Meanwhile, the Jaguars (9-13, 3-7 SBC) end a four-game losing streak to move up one spot to 11th.
A quiet first half by Eugene was met with a 15-point and two-steal performance in the second on 6-of-8 shooting – shot 0-of-6 in the first. Aamer Muhammad joined him in double figures with 10 points and a pair of steals and assists.
Isaiah Moore produced 23 points and seven rebounds in the win for USA. Down low, Kevin Samuel dominated the post with a double-double performance of 10 points and 13 rebounds. The Jaguars shot 52.6 percent from the field as a team, with six makes from deep.
Timely Timeout
A timeout by Richie Riley at the 9:44 mark stalled out a 7-0 run by the Trojans, where they fought to trim the deficit to 12, 58-46. Riley drew up the play that set up Greg Parham II from deep to re-extend the lead to 15 right out of the break, 61-46.
Parham II tried to strike again from deep but was met with a miss and a Eugene rebound that he took down the court for the layup, 61-48, with 9:09 remaining.
South Alabama responded with back-to-back buckets from Tyrell Jones and Moore in the paint at the 13:01 mark that pushed the USA lead back to 17, 65-48.
With every score the Trojans produced, USA responded with two of its own as the Jaguars pushed the lead back up to 20, 77-57, with 0:52 left, when Moore drove inside for his 23rd and final point.
Fight Back
The game looked out of reach after Parham II hit three free throws with 14:37 remaining to extend USA's lead to 18, 53-35.
Troy found some life when Eugene stole the ball from Samuel and took it coast to coast at the 6:05 mark for the fastbreak lay-in, 53-37.
USA brought its lead back out to 19 on a 3-pointer from Judah Brown with 11:50 remaining, 58-39. However, the Trojans responded with their largest run of the game, which was opened by Nelson Phillips, making two at the charity stripe 0:11 later, 58-41.
Eugene kept the run going after Jackson Fields seized the defensive rebound and dished it to the guard. The 6-3 junior circled the arc before letting it go from deep at the 9:06 mark to cut the deficit 58-44.
Darius McNeill swiped the ball from Jones on the following possession and dished it to Phillips. Phillips returned the ball and let McNeill finish the play with a fastbreak layup, 58-46 – 10:18 left on the clock.
Head Coach Scott Cross
"To score 46 points in the paint, I just don't think that's ever been done to a team of mine. And then to lose the rebounding battle the way we did. Our guys just didn't compete the way they were supposed to. We are going to have to do some soul-searching and get back to work on Monday. We need to bounce back. We got four games at home. I couldn't identify with the team that showed up tonight. We've competed in 20 minutes these past two games. The other 60, we just haven't looked like us. It's disappointing. But I'm confident we can regroup and get ready for next Thursday."
Mobile Notables
• Williams officially took over with the seventh most points in Troy Division-I program history with his first bucket for 1,060 career points – finished with four points.
• Turner tied his career-high of two 3-pointers, set back at Montana on Nov. 19, on back-to-back plays against South.
• Troy lost the battle in the paint by allowing the Jaguars to score 46 points down low compared to its 22.
• Despite the loss, the Trojans were able to limit turnovers, keeping the total down to nine – first time with single-digit turnovers since Georgia State on Jan. 12.
• Troy trailed 37-25 at halftime, bringing its record to 2-6 when down through the first 20 minutes.
First Rematch
Troy heads home for the first of its two-game series with a rematch against Southern Miss on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Trojan Arena.
The Trojans (13-10, 5-5 SBC) continue to fall down the standings this weekend as they sit tied for eighth with Old Dominion. Meanwhile, the Jaguars (9-13, 3-7 SBC) end a four-game losing streak to move up one spot to 11th.
A quiet first half by Eugene was met with a 15-point and two-steal performance in the second on 6-of-8 shooting – shot 0-of-6 in the first. Aamer Muhammad joined him in double figures with 10 points and a pair of steals and assists.
Isaiah Moore produced 23 points and seven rebounds in the win for USA. Down low, Kevin Samuel dominated the post with a double-double performance of 10 points and 13 rebounds. The Jaguars shot 52.6 percent from the field as a team, with six makes from deep.
Timely Timeout
A timeout by Richie Riley at the 9:44 mark stalled out a 7-0 run by the Trojans, where they fought to trim the deficit to 12, 58-46. Riley drew up the play that set up Greg Parham II from deep to re-extend the lead to 15 right out of the break, 61-46.
Parham II tried to strike again from deep but was met with a miss and a Eugene rebound that he took down the court for the layup, 61-48, with 9:09 remaining.
South Alabama responded with back-to-back buckets from Tyrell Jones and Moore in the paint at the 13:01 mark that pushed the USA lead back to 17, 65-48.
With every score the Trojans produced, USA responded with two of its own as the Jaguars pushed the lead back up to 20, 77-57, with 0:52 left, when Moore drove inside for his 23rd and final point.
Fight Back
The game looked out of reach after Parham II hit three free throws with 14:37 remaining to extend USA's lead to 18, 53-35.
Troy found some life when Eugene stole the ball from Samuel and took it coast to coast at the 6:05 mark for the fastbreak lay-in, 53-37.
USA brought its lead back out to 19 on a 3-pointer from Judah Brown with 11:50 remaining, 58-39. However, the Trojans responded with their largest run of the game, which was opened by Nelson Phillips, making two at the charity stripe 0:11 later, 58-41.
Eugene kept the run going after Jackson Fields seized the defensive rebound and dished it to the guard. The 6-3 junior circled the arc before letting it go from deep at the 9:06 mark to cut the deficit 58-44.
Darius McNeill swiped the ball from Jones on the following possession and dished it to Phillips. Phillips returned the ball and let McNeill finish the play with a fastbreak layup, 58-46 – 10:18 left on the clock.
Head Coach Scott Cross
"To score 46 points in the paint, I just don't think that's ever been done to a team of mine. And then to lose the rebounding battle the way we did. Our guys just didn't compete the way they were supposed to. We are going to have to do some soul-searching and get back to work on Monday. We need to bounce back. We got four games at home. I couldn't identify with the team that showed up tonight. We've competed in 20 minutes these past two games. The other 60, we just haven't looked like us. It's disappointing. But I'm confident we can regroup and get ready for next Thursday."
Mobile Notables
• Williams officially took over with the seventh most points in Troy Division-I program history with his first bucket for 1,060 career points – finished with four points.
• Turner tied his career-high of two 3-pointers, set back at Montana on Nov. 19, on back-to-back plays against South.
• Troy lost the battle in the paint by allowing the Jaguars to score 46 points down low compared to its 22.
• Despite the loss, the Trojans were able to limit turnovers, keeping the total down to nine – first time with single-digit turnovers since Georgia State on Jan. 12.
• Troy trailed 37-25 at halftime, bringing its record to 2-6 when down through the first 20 minutes.
First Rematch
Troy heads home for the first of its two-game series with a rematch against Southern Miss on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Trojan Arena.
Team Stats
TROY
USA
FG%
.417
.526
3FG%
.412
.462
FT%
.813
.786
RB
22
37
TO
9
11
STL
7
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Basketball (M)
F
/ Basketball (M)
G
/ Basketball (M)G
/ Basketball (M)G
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