EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE dropped its fourth road contest of the year Friday, falling 83-60 at Troy.
SIUE fell to 0-4 in true road games and 5-4 overall. Troy improved to 4-4 overall.
"We didn't handle their pressure well at all," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "They brought a pressure that we can handle, but we didn't tonight. They came out and they beat us tonight.
Troy led from the outset. Using an initial 13-2 run to push the lead to 16-4. The Trojans led 30-10 after a three-pointer from Aamer Muhammad at the media timeout at 7:58.
The Cougars used a 9-0 run late in the half to trim the lead back to 37-29 and trailed 41-31 at halftime.
"In the first half when we cut it to 10, we were moving the ball a little better," Barone said.
Troy extended the lead to 13 points with three consecutive free throws after a foul in three-point territory early in the second half. The Cougars never got closer than 11 points in the half.
"The second half we came out and they individualized our offense a little bit," Barone said. "They made us try to make individual basketball plays."
A 19-2 run by Troy gave the Trojans their largest lead at 31 points (78-47) with 5:37 left in the game. The Cougars used a late 11-0 run to cut the lead back to 78-58 with two minutes to play.
Troy forced the Cougars into 15 turnovers including 10 in the second half alone. SIUE recorded just three assists.
"They did what they do well, and we didn't do what we do well," Barone said. "This is why you schedule these games."
Troy connected on 50 percent of its shots overall (29-58) and from three-point range (10-20). SIUE was 24-59 (41 percent) and landed just 4 of 17 (24 percent) three-pointers.
Damarco Minor paced SIUE with 14 points. Ray'Sean Taylor scored 12 points and Shamar Wright scored 11 points.
Muhammad led Troy with 21 points. Christyon Eugene scored 12 points.
SIUE returns home to face Green Bay on Wednesday at First Community Arena.
"Now it's about the way you respond," Barone said. Regardless of this outcome, we knew we were going to come out knowing more about ourselves. Green Bay is playing well. It's going to be a heck of a challenge for us on Wednesday."
