Troy rebounds, explodes past Georgia State in 75-65 upset win

Coming off a home loss to Georgia Southern in which head coach Scott Cross called out his team for a lack of toughness, the Trojans stunned Georgia State at home, 75-65, on Saturday and avoided slamming into the proverbial wall so associated with the grind of the Sun Belt schedule.

Thanks to a perfect storm of misfortunate scheduling and unlucky breaks, Troy entered Saturday’s contest teetering and at an early crossroads.

Fortunately for Troy, Cross is a veteran to the Sun Belt schedule thanks to his 12-year stint at Texas-Arlington.

“I have been trying my best to enjoy the journey and just take it day by day,” Cross said after Saturday’s game. “Narrow our focus and just try to get better today and just try to win this game. Today we got the win. Tomorrow we get the day off and then Monday we need to go win Monday and just continue with that mindset.”

Following a 16-point home loss against Georgia Southern, Cross said his team “didn’t show the toughness or grit that I’m looking for,” according to Troy athletics.

Troy used its turn the page attitude to return to its stair-climbing ways on Saturday.

“We refocused after the (Georgia Southern) game,” guard Ty Gordon said following Saturday’s win. “We had to get back on track. We had lost track of our hustle points. Hustle points win games. We just refocused and got under control.”

Gordon poured in a season-high 20 points against the Panthers on 5-10 shooting from deep. The junior also had six assists. With 2:36 left in the game, Gordon hit a whirling layup at the end of a fastbreak in the midst of an 8-0 run that separated the contest.

In that same spurt, guard KJ Simon had a defense-slicing two-handed jam that brought the crowd of 2,282 on its feet. Simon scored 16 points off the bench, giving Troy 36 bench points in Simon and Gordon alone.

With junior Darian Adams having a 1-11 day and missing freshman Jakevan Leftridge after an injury suffered on Thursday, the trio of Simon, Gordon and Desmond Williams combined for 49 points on Saturday.

“I think we were never shorthanded,” Simon said following the game. “We just have a long bench. We can play any guys, we believe in everybody and coach Cross trusts everybody. If I go down I know somebody else will step up and win the game, too.”

Gordon also thinks highly of his group, especially when everybody is focused in.

“When we’re locked in, we’re probably one of the best backcourts in the nation,” Gordon said. “I can bet the bank on ourselves. Including Desmond (Williams), we’ve got some good guards. We just have to be locked in.”

The Trojans are also now without their leading rebounder in Zay Williams, who is out indefinitely and has already missed the past four games.

Reserve big Tyrek Williams has also been held out the last four games to facilitate the healing of a knee he had surgery on in the offseason, leaving Troy thin in the frontcourt.

Nevertheless, Troy won the rebounding battle on Saturday 43-38 and scored 12 second chance points.

“We really just dogs so it doesn’t matter,” Simon said. “We’re going to push the pace. We’re little so we’re going to get up and down the court and let them run. We’re going to box out. Rebounding is toughness.”

Toughness was needed on Saturday with the Sun Belt-leading Panthers in town and Cross got it from his team.

“I felt like our guys played one of our toughest games of the year in terms of being physically tough and gritty,” Cross said. “To win this game was huge for the program, especially after a quick turnaround and especially after getting our butt kicked and not playing very good against Georgia Southern.”

Troy heads back on the road for a road date with yet another leader in the Sun Belt in Little Rock. The Trojans knocked off the Arkansas-based Trojans at home on January 9 and are looking for a series sweep.