Troy University Athletics
Trojans Entertain Middle Tennessee Thursday Night
1/16/2008 6:00:00 AM | Basketball (W)
TROY, Ala. - The Troy University Trojans gear up for their first home game in two weeks, when they host Middle Tennessee State University at Trojan Arena Thursday night.
The Trojans are in the midst of the conference season, and are coming off of a road split with Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University after playing seven of their last nine games on the road. However, Troy (9-8, 2-3 SBC) will be home for four of their next five games with tonight's match-up against Middle Tennessee.
Middle Tennessee (9-8, 3-2 SBC) leads the all-time series over the Trojans 5-0, but are coming off of a 70-68 loss on the road at Arkansas State Monday night. However, the Blue Raiders are receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today's Coaches Poll released this week.
In last season's match-up in Murfreesboro, Middle Tennessee came into the game ranked #17 in the nation and riding an 27-game winning streak. However, at halftime, they trailed Troy 35-33 and that marked the only time during the winning streak that the Blue Raiders trailed at any point.
Tonight's match-up will feature two of the nation's leading scorers in Middle Tennessee's Amber Holt and Troy's Amy Lewis. Holt enters the game as the nation's leading scorer averaging over 26 points per game, while Lewis is 20th in the country in scoring averaging 19 points per contest. The duo are ranked #1 and #3 in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring.
GAME FACTS
Date: Thursday, January 17, 2008
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Site: Troy, AL
Coliseum: Trojans Arena
Capacity: 4,000
National Rankings (AP/ESPN-USA Today): Troy (NR/NR); MTSU ( NR/RV)
Television: Visit troytrojans.com to watch today's game.
Radio: Tonight's game can heard on WTBF-FM 94.7 locally or troytrojans.com.
Commentators: Play-by-play: Buddy Johnson; Color: Taylor Barbaree.
Internet: Visit troytrojans.com for live statistics.
Tickets: Visit troytrojans.com for more information.
Forecast: Few Showers (30%)
Temps: High 53, Low 33
TROJAN HEADLINES
Senior guard Amy Lewis will start her 102nd consecutive game tonight against Middle Tennessee State University, and will look to extend her double-digit scoring streak to 17 games this season and 26 overall ... Troy will be looking to record back-to-back wins since defeating Fordham (December 30) and North Texas (January 3), and for just the fourth time this season ... tonight's game will be just the fifth home game for the Trojans this season ... Troy plays four of it's next five games at Trojan Arena, starting with tonight's game ... the game tonight will mark the second time that the Trojans have hosted a team receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today's Top 25.
ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY
Troy is 4-4 all time on this date ... the Trojans lost their first-ever game on this date to Auburn, 70-67, in 1978 ... they lost to the University of West Alabama, 71-62, in 1981 on their way to the AIAW State Championship ... Troy recorded their first victory on this date in 1983, defeating Talladega 70-54 at home ... the Trojans won the next season on this date, defeating the University of West Florida 73-69 ... they then lost to Delta State 95-43 in Gulf South Conference action in 1987, before losing another conference game to Montevallo, 115-85, in 1990 ... the Trojans won their first-ever NCAA Division I-A game scheduled on this date, defeating Northeastern Illinois, 90-69, on their way to the NCAA Tournament in 1997 ... the Trojans also defeated Florida Atlantic, as members of the Atlantic Sun, 87-76 in 1998 ... under current head coach Michael Murphy, the Trojans defeated Stetson 66-60 in Atlantic Sun action in 2004.
THE LAST TIME, MTSU vs. TROY
Middle Tennessee and Troy last met March 2, 2007 in Murfreesboro, with the Blue Raiders coming out on top 68-60. Troy played 17th-ranked Middle Tennessee closer than anyone else all season, until the Blue Raiders lost in the NCAA Tournament. Middle Tennessee's lead scorer this season, Amber Holt finished with 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the floor and 6-of-8 shooting from the free throw line. Amy Lewis and Kylie Morrissy each led the Trojans with 15 points in the near upset. Morrissy was 4-of-8 from the floor and 7-of-11 from the floor, and she also grabbed 10 rebounds in the loss. Lewis was 7-of-16 of the floor and 1-of-4 from behind the arc. As a team, Middle Tennessee shot 37.3 from the floor, a horrendous 8.3 percent from behind the arc and 77.3 percent from the the free throw line. As a team, Troy shot 43.1 percent from the floor, 38.5 percent from behind the arc and 64.7 percent from the free throw line. The Trojans led Middle Tennessee 36-33 at halftime.
THE SERIES vs. MIDDLE TENNESSEE
Middle Tennessee leads the all-time series over Troy 5-0. The closest margin of defeat for the Trojans has been eight points (68-60) last season.
The two teams have met three times as members of the Sun Belt Conference, and twice in the early 1990s. Troy is 0-2 against Middle Tennessee at Trojan Arena, and 0-3 in Murfreesboro. Tonight's game will be the second earliest the two teams have met in conference action, second only to a meeting in which Middle Tennessee won 90-66 last season on January 6.
STAT LINE OF THE DAY (vs. FAU, 1/12/08)
Senior guard Laura Lee Holman scored 13 points against Florida Atlantic on the road Saturday. She was 4-of-7 form the floor, and connected on her first two three-point attempts of the game. She also grabbed eight rebounds in the contest.
