Turnovers Hurt Men's Basketball in Loss to Drake
12/13/2008 5:21:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DES MOINES, Iowa --- Drake took advantage of 12 Georgia Southern turnovers in the first half and used nine 3-pointers to win 84-73 Friday night at the Drake Knapp Center.
The Bulldogs (8-2) advance to the Hy-Vee Classic finals Saturday where they will take on Stephen F. Austin State. The Eagles (3-4) face North Dakota State in the opener at 5 p.m. CST.
“I thought it was very evident why we took ourselves out of the game,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “We had 12 turnovers in the first half and that's 12 less opportunities to get shots at the basket. We shot the ball 48% in the first half, which is pretty darn good, but it's 12 less opportunities and maybe eight of those they scored off of and that's where we dug our hole.”
Drake's Josh Young led all players with 26 points and headed up a contingent of four in double-figures. Craig Stanley tallied 14 and Jonathan Cox and Josh Parker had 11 each.
Junior Antonio Hanson (Fort Worth, Texas) came off the bench to record a team-high 21 points, all from behind the 3-point line. He converted seven of his 13 long-range attempts which are tied for sixth-best in school history.
Sophomore Willie Powers (Gainesville, Fla.) added 14 points and a team-best four assists. Freshman Ben Drayton III (St. Mary's, Ga.) tied his career high of 12 points and junior Tyler Troupe (Gallatin, Tenn.) tallied 10 points and eight rebounds.
Three consecutive 3-pointers by Drake late in the opening 20 minutes, part of a 9-2 run, took a tie game and converted it into a seven-point advantage. The Bulldogs shot 7-for-17 from behind the arc in the first half and 9-for-28 in the game. They came into the night averaging 9.8 trifectas, 11th-best in the nation.
“They hurt us in 3s and off turnovers,” said Price. “In the halfcourt we did a pretty good job of defending them but again, their 3-point shots came off of unforced turnovers and situations like that where you're scrambling on defense and can't find an open man and they make an open ?3'.
The Bulldogs scored the last four points of the first half to take a 38-29 lead into the break. They stretched that to 20 early in the final period after a 12-1 run.
The Bulldogs (8-2) advance to the Hy-Vee Classic finals Saturday where they will take on Stephen F. Austin State. The Eagles (3-4) face North Dakota State in the opener at 5 p.m. CST.
“I thought it was very evident why we took ourselves out of the game,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “We had 12 turnovers in the first half and that's 12 less opportunities to get shots at the basket. We shot the ball 48% in the first half, which is pretty darn good, but it's 12 less opportunities and maybe eight of those they scored off of and that's where we dug our hole.”
Drake's Josh Young led all players with 26 points and headed up a contingent of four in double-figures. Craig Stanley tallied 14 and Jonathan Cox and Josh Parker had 11 each.
Junior Antonio Hanson (Fort Worth, Texas) came off the bench to record a team-high 21 points, all from behind the 3-point line. He converted seven of his 13 long-range attempts which are tied for sixth-best in school history.
Sophomore Willie Powers (Gainesville, Fla.) added 14 points and a team-best four assists. Freshman Ben Drayton III (St. Mary's, Ga.) tied his career high of 12 points and junior Tyler Troupe (Gallatin, Tenn.) tallied 10 points and eight rebounds.
Three consecutive 3-pointers by Drake late in the opening 20 minutes, part of a 9-2 run, took a tie game and converted it into a seven-point advantage. The Bulldogs shot 7-for-17 from behind the arc in the first half and 9-for-28 in the game. They came into the night averaging 9.8 trifectas, 11th-best in the nation.
“They hurt us in 3s and off turnovers,” said Price. “In the halfcourt we did a pretty good job of defending them but again, their 3-point shots came off of unforced turnovers and situations like that where you're scrambling on defense and can't find an open man and they make an open ?3'.
The Bulldogs scored the last four points of the first half to take a 38-29 lead into the break. They stretched that to 20 early in the final period after a 12-1 run.
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