Varnado Propels Troy To 83-65 Victory Over Chicago State

Friday, December 23

Las Vegas, Nev.

4:30 P.M.

Troy University

8-6

Chicago State

4-10

Troy

Chicago State

Varnado Propels Troy To 83-65 Victory Over Chicago State

12/23/2016 7:30:00 PM | Basketball (M)

Box Score

By: Russ Schaffer

Box Score

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Troy had just a four-point lead going into the half against Chicago State, but a hot hand from Jordon Varnado gave Troy a 83-65 win over Chicago State to win the Las Vegas Classic Upper Bracket and wrap up non-conference play on Friday.

Going into the half, the Trojans (8-6) had seven 3-pointers and were shooting 43.8 percent from the field, but it took a huge second half from Varnado to blow the game open.

The forward entered the half with zero points on just one shot attempt and an uncharacteristic zero rebounds. His stat line, and the game as a whole, took a turn as Varnado erupted for 17 points in the first 13 minutes of the second half en route to a team-leading 21 points on the night.

It took until the 16:34 mark of the second half for Varnado to get on the score sheet with a free throw that kept Troy's lead at just four. That may have been the spark for the big man as he got going immediately after that.

Less than a minute later, Varnado got his first field goal with an uncontested slam. He followed that up with five of the next seven Trojan baskets that steadily brought that four-point halftime lead all the way up to 20 with 5:12 left to play.

The Brownsville, Tenn. Native, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, showed off his full array of moves in scoring in virtually every fashion that he could. In a span in the second half, his consecutive scoring possessions included a free throw, a dunk, a jumper, a layup and then a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

The Cougars (4-10) kept it close in the first half and the beginning stages of the second half largely in part of the scoring from Fred Sims, Jr., who had 21 points on 8-of-20 shooting on the afternoon.

While Varnado showed off his skills, he wasn't the only Trojan that put up solid numbers. Four different Trojans had double-digit scoring. Varnado was the spark plug in the second half, but Wesley Person was in the first.

Person had 14 points on the night fueled by 10 in the opening frame. He was the only Trojan in double figures in the half. His game helped facilitate the scoring for fellow guard Kevin Baker, who was second on the team with 16 points aided by four 3-pointers.

Jeremy Hollimon also showed off his scoring touch with four threes en route to 14 points. Another key contributor was B.J. Miller, who had a season-high eight points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting. The guard hit his first 3-pointer of the year.

Quotable
"I'm really proud of our guys in overcoming the adversity of all this traveling," head coach Phil Cunningham said. "We had two tough losses on the road that we felt like we should have won. Then we played against two totally different styles of offense here in Las Vegas with Cornell and Chicago State. I'm really proud about how we played against those two different styles. Give credit to B.J. Miller. He came off the bench in the first half and really gave us a bonus that probably kept us in the game."

Stat of the Game
Chicago State entered the half shooting 40 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from 3-point range and 91.7 percent from the free-throw line. All of those totals fell off in the second half. The Cougars finished the game shooting 38.6 percent from the field, 32 percent from three and 86.7 percent from the line. Chicago State was 12-32 (37.5 percent) from the field in the second half and had just three 3-pointers.

Turning Point
A single free throw can usually just be a note in the play-by-play, but one free throw turned around the direction of the game. Troy's biggest lead was seven in the first half and Chicago State led by one with 8:07 to play. Jordon Varnado's free throw to start his scoring at 16:34 of the second half marked the beginning of the end of the Cougars. Varnado scored all 21 of his points from 16:34 to 2:05 of the second half.

Noteworthy
• The eight non-conference wins are the most in a single season since Troy had nine in the 2002-03 season.

• The Trojans finished the Las Vegas Classic 2-2 with the two losses being true away games at No. 24 USC 82-77 and at Wyoming 72-66 amid a two-hour delay.

• Jeremy Hollimon has now extended his career-best streak of double-digit scoring games to eight. The guard came off the bench and had nine points in the first half and finished with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting.

• On top of his 21 points, Varnado also added two blocks and eight rebounds. His two blocks brought his total up to 20 on the season.

Up Next
Friday's game marked the end of the 2016-17 non-conference schedule for Troy. The Trojans will now have a week off before traveling to Mobile, Ala. to open up Sun Belt Conference play on Jan. 2. For more information on Troy men's basketball, follow along on social media at @TroyMensHoops or by visiting TroyTrojans.com.