CARROLLTON, Ga. - Playing at home for the first time as a Division I program, the UWG men's basketball team fell in their 2024-25 home opener on Tuesday night, dropping an 84-65 contest to the Troy Trojans at The Coliseum.
West Georgia (0-5) came out solid in the opening minutes, but Troy (3-2) got hot and poured in 47 first half points to build a big lead behind a 56.7 percent mark from the field in the first 20 minutes.
"Troy is a really good team, a team that has won 20 games the last three years, and brought 12 guys back from finishing third in the Sun Belt Conference," said head coach Dave Moore following the loss. "I was disappointed in our fight in the first half. I thought we came out reasonably well, and we were prepared, but their shotmaking really hurt us. I thought it effected us, and discouraged us on the offensive end and it snowballed. I thought we played soft in the first half, and that's unacceptable here and it's my job to fix it."
The Wolves and Trojans traded blows for the first 10 minutes as that span featured nine lead changes. At the 8:11 mark, however, Troy would hit one of their eight first half three-pointers, sparking an 18-4 run that put Troy up 36-22 with just under five to play in the half. Troy would then outscore UWG 11-6 to end the half, and lead it by 19 at the break.
Despite playing without their leading scorer, Shelton Williams-Dryden who got in foul trouble, the Wolves tied the Trojans 37-37 over the final 20 minutes of the contest.
West Georgia would chip away and get the deficit as close as 12 over the second half, but Troy would cruise to their third victory of the season, spoiling UWG's historic, Division I home opener.
"At the end of the day, they make 10 threes, eight in the first half, and then the big difference, too, is the foul line," Moore added.
Troy would go to the charity stripe 27 times and convert on 24 while West Georgia finished 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
"That speaks to our lack of toughness tonight," Moore continued. "The whistle usually benefits the tougher team, but we weren't the tougher team tonight, they were and they deserve that win going back home after that long road trip, so all the credit goes to Troy."
Williams-Dryden led the Wolves with 14 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the field in just 22 minutes of play. The Milwaukee native also grabbed seven rebounds which was a team-high. Kyric Davis also finished in double-figures with 11 while Tauris Watson and Kolten Griffin chipped in with eight.
Troy had three in double-figures, led by 15 from Jackson Fields who scored 11 of his 15 at the foul line.
West Georgia now looks to regroup and go back on the road. It doesn't get easier as another Sun Belt foe awaits in Georgia Southern.
"I just told the guys, we've got some X's and O's to clean up, but for me, it's more about toughness and determination, grit and fire in your eyes, and this not being acceptable," Moore concluded, "Our performance in the first half, with a home crowd, was not acceptable, and we weren't tough enough to compete at this level, and that's my job to fix. So we're going to get back to work tomorrow and we'll have a great practice and try to give Georgia Southern our best shot."
Tip-time from Statesboro on Saturday is set for 12 noon.
