JONESBORO -- In a game when both teams made more shots than they missed, Arkansas State beat Troy 82-80 Saturday night because it made one more shot.
"When you're playing a team like that, you better score," Arkansas State Coach Grant McCasland said. "If not, you're walking out of here with a frown, so our guys responded and kept battling."
The Red Wolves shot 70.4 percent from the floor in the second half, rallying from a 10-point second-half deficit in front of a season-high crowd of 4,678 Saturday night at the Convocation Center.
Arkansas State (13-6, 4-2 Sun Belt Conference) didn't take its first second-half lead until 69-67 with 5:02 left, and the game went back and forth from there until ASU's Deven Simms scored four consecutive, including two free throws off a steal, for an 81-78 lead with 51 seconds left.
Simms said he told his teammates he would make amends after an earlier turnover.
"That's when I got the steal, came down and made two free throws," said Simms, who scored 17. "It's really just me wanting to make it up to my team if I do something wrong."
Devin Carter, who scored a game-high 23 points, drew a charge with 33 seconds left, but Arkansas State threw the ball away in the backcourt.
Troy's Jeremy Hollimon drove to the basket, got fouled and pulled the Trojans within 81-80 on two free throws with 12 seconds left.
Rashad Lindsey made 1 of 2 free throws with 10.3 seconds left to make it 82-80, and Jahmiah Simmons disrupted Troy's attempt to tie it at the other end.
The Red Wolves gave the Trojans one last chance when Donte Thomas missed the front end of a one-and-one with 3.5 seconds left.
Wesley Person's 60-foot heave bounced off the glass and nicked the front of the rim.
"It was a battle all the way to the end," Troy Coach Phil Cunningham said. "We couldn't get the stops when we needed to at the end of the game."
Neither team got many stops.
Arkansas State made 32 of 55 (58.2 percent) from the field to Troy's 31 of 53 (58.5 percent). The Red Wolves were 10 of 18 (55.6 percent) on three-pointers to Troy's 9 of 17 (52.9 percent).
Troy led 39-34 at halftime because it made 16 of 29 from the field, including 6 of 10 on three-point attempts. ASU made 5 of 9 on three-pointers in the first half.
Jordon Varnado led the Trojans (10-10, 2-4) with 18 points, hitting 9 of 10 from the field. Juan Davis had 16 points on 6 of 7 field goals and 3 of 3 on three-pointers; Hollimon added 15 points and Person 12.
Tamas Bruce added 19 points for Arkansas State, including 15 in the second half with multiple dunks.
Carter made 6 of his 9 three-point attempts for ASU, but he deferred to his teammates.
"I got a team full of guys who aren't willing to quit," he said. "Our will to win is just through the roof."
Sports on 01/22/2017