Short-handed UTA men routed by 22 as Troy star hits 10 3-pointers
Wesley Person scored a career-high 39 points with 10 3-pointers, Jordon Varnado added 24 and grabbed eight rebounds, and Troy beat UT Arlington 93-71 on Saturday.
Jeremy Hollimon scored 10 points and Kevin Baker had five assists for the Trojans (10-8, 2-2 Sun Belt), who made 17 of 31 from behind the arc (54.8 percent) and 33 of 56 from the floor (58.9 percent).
Person was 13 of 19 from the floor, 10 of 15 from behind the arc, and scored 20 points in the first half.
UTA junior forward Kevin Hervey missed the game because of a sore knee, the UTA website reported. Junior forward Julian Harris didn’t make the trip because of illness.
“We have to give Troy credit,” UTA coach Scott Cross said. “[They were] another team that shot absolutely lights out against us. We have to figure out a way to be better defensively,”
“In our guys’ defense. It is hard [to play without Hervey and Harris). We have been preparing all week to have Kevin there. And, we found out today that he was not going to be able to play. So, we had to throw a lot of guys into either different or expanded roles.
“But, there is no excuse for what we did defensively. Again, it was one of those nights. Person was incredible. Everything he shot went in.”
Varnado hit two layups and Troy opened the second half with a 9-3 run for a 55-39 lead, and then led by 16 on Person’s layup with 14:29 left.
The Mavericks closed to 69-60 on Drew Charles’ 3 with 7:17 left, but Person hit a 3 on both ends of an 11-2 run and Troy led 80-62 with 5:22 left.
Erick Neal scored 22 for the Mavericks (12-5, 2-2).
UTA returns to action at 2 p.m. Monday against South Alabama. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
This story includes material from The Associated Press and UTA website.
TROY 93, UT ARLINGTON 71
UT Arlington | 36 | 35 | — | 71 |
Troy | 46 | 47 | — | 93 |
UT Arlington | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | F | Pt |
Bilbao | 20 | 2-5 | 3-4 | 5 | 4 | 7 |
Charles | 25 | 2-8 | 2-2 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
Jones | 30 | 3-9 | 2-2 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
Neal | 32 | 7-14 | 5-7 | 2 | 3 | 22 |
Wilson | 25 | 4-10 | 6-7 | 6 | 3 | 14 |
Pope | 22 | 1-6 | 3-6 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
Hawkins | 21 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
Kabadyundi | 10 | 0-1 | 2-4 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Kiris | 7 | 2-3 | 0-1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Bryant | 7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Muirhead | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 22-61 | 23-33 | 31 | 21 | 71 |
Percentages: FG .361, FT .697. 3-Point Goals: 4-25, .160 (Neal 3-8, Charles 1-5, Pope 0-2, Wilson 0-2, Hawkins 0-3, Jones 0-5). Team Rebounds: 2. Team Turnovers: 7 (22 PTS). Blocked Shots: 1 (Kiris). Turnovers: 7 (Neal 4, Bilbao 2, Jones). Steals: 2 (Bryant, Hawkins). Technical Fouls: None.
Troy | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | F | Pt |
Davis | 15 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
Varnado | 31 | 10-16 | 2-4 | 8 | 3 | 24 |
Baker | 17 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
Person | 36 | 13-19 | 3-3 | 5 | 2 | 39 |
Walker | 30 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
Hollimon | 24 | 4-9 | 1-3 | 5 | 3 | 10 |
Miller | 20 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
Peace | 16 | 0-0 | 4-6 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
Hicks | 10 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Moreman | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 200 | 33-56 | 10-16 | 34 | 27 | 93 |
Percentages: FG .589, FT .625. 3-Point Goals: 17-31, .548 (Person 10-15, Baker 3-7, Varnado 2-5, Davis 1-1, Hollimon 1-3). Team Rebounds: 4. Team Turnovers: 17 (7 PTS). Blocked Shots: 1 (Walker). Turnovers: 17 (Varnado 4, Hollimon 3, Peace 3, Person 2, Walker 2, Baker, Davis, Hicks). Steals: 2 (Baker, Peace). Technical Fouls: None.
A—1,298 (5,200).
This story was originally published January 14, 2017 at 10:31 PM with the headline "Short-handed UTA men routed by 22 as Troy star hits 10 3-pointers."