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Troy's treys prove to much for Miami |
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Written by Mike Smith
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 TROY 73, MIAMI 60
The RedHawks have won two games in six outings thus far. After an opening home court win over area rival Dayton, MU has last five of six. The only win was over Division II Saginaw Valley State Nov. 21.
MAVUNGA AVERAGING 21.5 PPG
The RedHawks were able to hang with area rivals Xavier and Cincinnati until late in those games, but the main contributor reason they were close in each contest was the stellar play of Mavunga. The senior scored over 20 points for the third consecutive game Saturday with 24 points on 6-of-11 from the field and 11-of-12 at the charity stripe. He also had eight rebounds. It moved his season totals to a near double-double at 21.5 ppg. And 9.8 rpg.
Mavunga might have reached another double-double had the Trojans not been padding their nation-leading 3-point shots made average (12.0) with 14 treys on 26 attempts – a whopping 53.8 percent success rate. Ironically, they converted the same percentage from the free throw line, sinking 7-of-13. Overall, Troy (4-3) made 44.8 percent of its shots from the field.
Miami, meanwhile, struggled mightily when it wasn’t at the free throw line. Of course, Mavunga had a lot to do with the 93.8 percent success at the line. The RedHawks made 15-of-16 from the stripe, and Mavunga accounted for 11 makes and 12 attempts.
DISMAL FIRST HALF SHOOTING
Overall, Miami made 36.7 percent from the field (18-of-49) and 9-of-27 (33.3 percent) behind the arc. It was considerably worse in the first half as MU quickly found itself in a big hole. Miami hit 5-of-22 from the field (22.7 percent) and 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) on treys during a dismal first half.
“It’s one thing not to guard guys, but it’s another thing when you can’t make a shot,” said Miami head coach Charlie Coles, who called the RedHawks’ performance against the Sun Belt Conference foe “very disappointing.”
To make matters worse, Troy outrebounded Miami 19-14 before intermission. Of the 19, seven came on the offensive glass.
“They got four straight offensive rebounds to open the game,” Coles noted.
The offensive rebounds helped Troy jump out to a quick 10-2 lead as they never trailed.
Two Mavunga free throws at 11:49 made it an 18-9 game, but the Trojans then went on a 10-0 run. By the 8:39 mark, Troy had tripled Miami’s score and owned a 19-point lead.
REDHAWKS MAKE A RUN
The hosts were up 16 (36-20) at halftime and raised the lead to 25 points (52-27) before Miami contracted a brief case of the 3-point fever. The RedHawks erupted for six straight treys over a span of 2:32.
Miami whittled its deficit down to single digits at 58-49 on a Jon Harris trey at 8:43, but Will Weathers chipped in six during an eight-point Troy run. That give the Trojans a 17-point lead and they finished with a 13-point advantage.
Justin Wright, who hit 4-of-5 treys, led Troy with 18 points. Alan Jones (4-of-6 treys) contributed 13 points, while Emil Jones (12) and R.J. Scott (11) were also in double figures.
Josh Sewell and Brian Sullivan both had 11 points to join Mavunga in double figures for Miami, which will tip off against Wright State Dec. 10 at Millet Hall. It will be the second home date for Miami and first in nearly a month.
“Hopefully, we can get some practice time in and get better,” Coles said. “We’ve just got to forget about records and play.”
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