Jordon Varnado’s Red Hot January Continues

Troy hosted Appalachian State on January 5 and outgunned the Mountaineers 89-85. Trojan forward Jordon Varnado was on the floor for 38 of 40 minutes, including all 20 in the second half, and was the model of efficiency.

In the final 20 minutes of the game, Varnado scored 19 points on 5-6 shooting and grabbed six boards. After not attempting a single free throw in the first half, he was a perfect 8-8 in the second half.

All told, Varnado finished with 27 points, eight rebounds, six assists, two blocks and zero turnovers.

This game kick-started an electric run through the month of January that has seen Varnado reach at least 26 points in every game this month.

Through six January games, Varnado is averaging 28.8 points per contest. That’s good for third in the entire country. Louisiana-Lafayette’s Jakeenan Gant is one of the only two ahead of him.

Varnado has recorded two double-doubles in that span and is averaging 8.3 rebounds per game during the month.

A big part of his recent explosion has been the sudden improvement in his jumpshot. The three ball has become an increasingly bigger part of his game of the years but as the amount of three point shots he puts up increases, the amount that go in has not increased.

That has changed. Varnado’s hot streak beyond the arc actually began in Bowling Green at Western Kentucky on December 16. Before that game, he was shooting just 8-33 from deep, or 24.2 percent.

Since that game, however, he’s made 24-47 three pointers for a blistering 51.6 percent clip. Varnado has hit at least two threes in each game this month and is making 2.8 per game.

The explosion hasn’t exactly resulted in consistent wins, though, as the Trojans are 3-3 this month with him in the lineup. Varnado missed the conference opener, an 88-75 loss to Coastal Carolina.

Troy will get a chance to bounce back from a loss to Louisiana-Monroe on the road on Saturday against the Rajin’ Cajuns. Varnado versus the aforementioned Gant will be a premier matchup between the two best bigs in the Sun Belt.