Trojans Close Out Three-Game Road Swing at In-State Rival South Alabama

TROY, Ala. -- The Troy Trojans men's basketball program closes out a three-game road swing Saturday night, traveling to South Alabama for a 6 p.m. contest.

Meeting for the second time this month, the Trojans will look to avenge a 70-66 setback to the Jaguars back on Feb. 7.

After Saturday's matchup with South Alabama, the Trojans will close out the regular season on Tuesday night when UT Arlington visits Trojan Arena for a 6 p.m. contest.

LAST TIME OUT- (Troy- 9-20, 5-13 Sun Belt)
The Troy Trojans men's basketball program looks to bounce back Saturday night at South Alabama. Last weekend, the Trojans fell at Coastal Carolina and at Appalachian State. Last Saturday, the Trojans used a 21-7 run to open a 27-20 advantage with 3:40 left in the half. After a mini App State-run closed the gap to just 27-26, Troy scored five of the final six points to take a 32-27 lead into the break at halftime. App State used an early 26-8 run over the first 10:55 of the second half to take a 56-40 lead with 7:59 to play. The Trojans were able cut the App State lead to seven, but Justin Forrest nailed a clutch triple to give App State a 63-53 lead with 1:47 to play. In total, nine different Trojans scored at least four points, led by Ty Gordon who scored 11. Junior Khalyl Waters nailed his first-career 3-pointer and added a career-best four steals.

LAST TIME OUT- (South Alabama, 18-11, 11-7 Sun Belt)
The South Alabama Jaguars enter Saturday's matchup with the Trojans have won six games in a row. The streak which began at Georgia Southern back on Feb. 1, has propelled South Alabama into a three-way tie for third place with Georgia State and Southern. The Jaguars have won the six games by a combined 29 points. Three of the six games have been decided by three points or fewer including a 50-49 victory over ULM back on Feb. 15. Last weekend the Jaguars defeated App State on Thursday night (78-70) before pulling off a come-from-behind victory on Saturday at Coastal Carolina. On Thursday senior Josh Ajayi returned for South Alabama scoring 19 points. For the contest, the Jaguars shot a staggering 69.8 (30-of-43) percent from the field. Four different Jaguars scored in double figures, as South Alabama shot nearly 81 percent from the field in the second half. On Saturday the Jaguars pulled off a 74-71 victory, overcoming 33 points from Tyrell Gumbs-Frater. After the Chanticleers tied the game at 71 with three seconds remaining on a Tommy Burton fastbreak layup, Andre Fox was fouled on a half-court 3-point attempt with just over a second remaining. Fox would hit one-of-three free throws before a technical foul was called against Coastal Carolina. Senior Trhae Mitchell nailed a pair of free throws to secure the win for South Alabama. On the season, Ajayi is averaging a team-best 15.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Four Jaguars are averaging double-figures including Mitchell (11.2 points, 5.7 rebounds) and Andre Fox (12.1 points, 2.9 rebounds).

Trojan Storylines:
• The Trojans need just one more Sun Belt victory to equal the programs total from a season ago. Last year Troy went 5-13 in Sun Belt Conference play.
• Saturday's game against South Alabama is just the Trojans second Feb. 29 game in program history. The Trojans played a leap-year Feb. 29th game back in 2004. Troy defeated Stetson 68-66.
• Since being reinserted into the starting lineup back on Jan. 6 at Texas State (12 games), junior Nick Stampley is averaging 8.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. Stampley is shooting a blistering 42-of-77 (.545) from the field in that span and has grabbed 38 offensive rebounds. Stampley recorded his first career double-double against ULM.
• Ty Gordon is averaging 14.6 points and 3.9 assists in 2020. Gordon recorded at least 10 points in nine of Troy's 10 January games and has scored 20 points twice this month. Gordon is averaging 14.3 points in conference play, shooting 41.0 percent from the field. Gordon now has 20 games with at least 10 points and 16 games with three assists.
• Troy has won six of its last eight games where they have hit at least 10 3-pointers. The Trojans are just 3-15 when they don't hit at least 10 3-pointers this season.
• Troy has drawn 72 total charges this season through 29 games (2.5-per- game). The Trojans have drawn at least one charge 26 of 29 games.

Broadcast Information
ESPN +: J.D. Byars (PBP) and Pat Greenwood (Color)
Live Audio: TroyTrojans.com/watch
Radio: Barry McKnight on the Troy Sports Radio Network

Trojans Close Out Three-Game Road Swing at In-State Rival South Alabama

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Players Mentioned

Ty Gordon

Nick Stampley

Khalyl Waters

Troy University Athletics