SBC Title in Cross Hairs for Troy on Saturday

Troy needs a victory over Arkansas State to clinch a share of the Sun Belt Conference regular season title. The team faces the Redwolves at 7 pm on Saturday.

THE COACHES

Arkansas State

John Brady (Bellhaven, 1976)
Record at ASU: 29-29 (2nd year)
Overall Record: 310-245 (18th year)

Record vs. Troy: 0-1

Troy
Don Maestri (Southern Miss, 1969)
Record at Troy: 474-334 (28th year)
Overall Record: Same

Record vs. ASU: 4-1

LAST GAME
Troy recorded its largest comeback of the season, clawing back from a 16-point halftime deficit to defeat UALR on the road 76-73. Arkansas State forged a comeback of its own at home against New Orleans.

NEXT GAME
This is the final regular season game for both teams. Both squads will head to the 2010 Sun Belt Conference tournament in Hot Springs, Ark. from March 6-9.

ON THE AIR
Radio: Troy ISP Sports Network; 94.7 FM WTBF in Troy, 560 AM WOOF in Dothan; Barry McKnight (pxp), Taylor Bryan (color)
On the web: www.troytrojans.com (audio); Trojan Gamepass (video)

RANKINGS (through 2/26)
Troy: #139 RPI, #174 Sagarin
ASU: #189 RPI, #204 Sagarin

THE SERIES
Troy leads 4-1

Current streak: Troy won 4
Troy's last win in series: 85-77 (2/5/09)
Last meeting: Troy 85, ASU 77 (2/5/09)
Last five games: Troy leads 4-1
Troy's last win at ASU Convocation Center: 89-80 (1/19/08)
ASU's last win at Convocation Center: 91-68 (2/1/06)
Troy's record at Convocation Center: 1-1
Troy's road streak: Won 1
Troy's longest winning / losing streak in series: 4 / 1
Notes: On February 5, 2009, Troy held on for an 85-77 win over Arkansas State as Delk scored 18 and former Trojan Mario Telfair added 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench ... Troy leads Arkansas State 4-1 in the all-time series, but have split two previous games in Jonesboro ... The Trojans have won four straight in the series dating back to a 107-83 win in the Sun Belt tournament on March 3, 2006 ... In that game, Troy hit a Sun Belt tournament record 23 3-pointers

QUICK HITTERS

One game stands between the Troy Trojans and a regular season Sun Belt Conference title. To get there, the team will have to defeat a young and very talented Arkansas State squad.

Troy head coach Don Maestri is 61-55 all-time against current members of the Sun Belt Conference. The win over MTSU on February 4 was Maestri's 370th of his coaching career.

Troy is averaging a league-best 76.9 ppg and is second in FG% (48.6%) and third in 3-point FG% (38.3). The Trojans' FG% ranks 12th nationally. Arkansas State ranks first in the league in FG% defense, allowing opponents to hit just 40.7 percent of field goals. The Redwolves are also the best rebounding team in the league. They pull down 37.6 rebounds per game.

Troy currently stands in a tie with MTSU for first place in the east division and in a three-way tie with MTSU and North Texas for the overall league lead. Troy owns the tie breaker with the Blue Raiders after a sweep of the season series.

Troy guard Richard Delk has carried the Trojans offensively the last three games. Delk is averaging 17.3 ppg over the last three contests - all Troy wins. He is also pulling down more than six rebounds per game and connecting on 47.1 percent of his 3-point attempts. Delk posted 18 points on 3-of-5 treys in an 85-77 win in Troy last season over ASU.

The Trojans picked up their 10th win in conference play last Thursday against MTSU. That marked just the second 10-win Sun Belt season in Troy's tenure as a member of the conference. The Trojans went 14-4 in league play a season ago for their first-ever double-digit conference season.

Michael Vogler and Brandon Hazzard have taken their careers to new heights this season - the Sun Belt Record Book. Vogler currently ranks 17th on the Sun Belt's all-time list with 448 assists and 25th with 169 steals. Hazzard recently took over 24th on the Sun Belt's career 3-pointer list with 194 treys.

Yamene Coleman is steadily climbing Troy's D-I single-season rebound list as his season total increases. Coleman has 223 rebounds with two regular season games remaining, a total that ranks fifth on Troy's Division I single-season list. He trails fourth place Terry Pickett (227) by four. The top spot is occupied by Rob Lewin with 258. Coleman would probably need five more games (at his current average of 8.0 rpg) to set the single-season record.

Troy University Athletics

SBC Title in Cross Hairs for Troy on Saturday

Related News

Related Videos