Men’s Basketball Falls to No. 18 Arkansas

Wednesday, November 13

Fayetteville, Ark.

7 p.m.

Troy University

2-1,0-0Sun Belt

Arkansas

2-1,0-0SEC

Troy

Arkansas

Men’s Basketball Falls to No. 18 Arkansas

11/13/2024 11:43:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Fayetteville, Ark. – After a strong first half that saw Troy take a one-point lead into the halftime break, Arkansas shot the lights out in the second half to pull away with a 65-49 win on Wednesday night in the Bud Walton Arena.

Troy (2-1) played an elite defensive first half and hit enough shots to take a 27-26 lead into the halftime break. The Trojans held Arkansas (2-1) to a dismal 29.4 percent (10-34) shooting line in the first half and 18.2 percent (2-11) from 3-point range. Troy also hit 40.7 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.

The Trojans jumped out to an early 11-5 lead, thanks to good defense and a couple of big threes. The Razorbacks were held to 2-10 shooting in the first six minutes of the game. Going into the second media timeout with 11:01 left in the half, Troy was leading 15-10. The two teams went back and forth for the final 10 minutes, and thanks to a nice layup by Tayton Conerway late in the half, the Trojans took a 27-26 lead into the break.

Jackson Fields paved the way with a game-high 10 points in the first half on 5-6 shooting. He finished the night with 13 points on 6-8 shooing to lead Troy.

In the second half, Arkansas exploded offensively as it shot 63.6 percent (14-22) from the field and 66.7 percent (8-12) from 3-point range. The Trojans also went dormant on offense, as it went 10-28 (35.7 percent) from the field and 0-8 from distance.

Zvonimir Ivisic was impressive for Arkansas, going 5-6 from 3-point range and had 16 points in the final 20 minutes to help lead Arkansas to its first home win under new head coach John Calipari. Ado Theiro also had 12 second-half points on 5-6 shooting. Theiro and Ivisic combined for 28 of Arkansas 39 second-half points.

The Trojans struggled to take care of the basketball as it turned it over 24 times, while the Razorbacks had just 14.

Despite the tough outcome, there were positive results for Troy. The Trojans won the rebounding battle 37-30. Troy also had 13 offensive rebounds. Thomas Dowd led the way with seven rebounds, while Fields had six.

Myles Rigsby was the other lone Trojan to record double-digit points, as he had 12 on 5-15 shooting. Troy finished the night shooting 38.2 percent from the field and 15.8 percent from beyond the arc.

Quotable – head coach Scott Cross
"First half we were locked in and did a great job executing. When the defense is down on our end it's a little easier to help our guys out. Second half, we just turned the ball over, and didn't have the same grit and toughness defensively. We didn't do the little things we normally do. Our tagging wasn't as good. It's hard to have toughness when you turn the ball over 24 times. That was obviously the difference in the game."

Up Next
The Trojans continue their four-game road trip on Sunday afternoon in Eugene, Ore., as they take on the Ducks. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. central time. The game will be broadcast on B1G+ and the Troy Sports Media Network. Live stats will be available on Troystats.com.

Game 3 Notables
• Jackson Fields recorded his third-straight game in double figure scoring with 13 points to lead Troy. He is averaging 12.6 points per game this season.
• Myles Rigsby scored in double-figures with 12 points on 5-15 shooting.
• Troy shot 38.2 percent from the field, it's worst shooting clip of the season through three games.
• The Trojans shot 15.8 percent from three-point range, it's worst shooting performance from distance since it shot 12.5 percent at Florida on Nov. 28, 2021.
• Troy took just seven free-throw attempts, the fewest it has taken in a game since Jan. 16, 2021, when it took seven against Georgia Southern.
• Troy moves to 1-6 all-time against Arkansas.