Trojans Welcome UTA for Season Finale

TROY, Ala. -- The Troy Trojans men's basketball program closes out the 2019-20 campaign Tuesday night, when UT Arlington visits Trojan Arena for a 6 p.m. tip.

Tuesday's matchup will be student and season ticket holder appreciation night. All Troy students can request two complimentary guest tickets, while all students and season ticket holders will have the chance to win prizes from Yeti, McDonald's, Adidas and more.

In addition to the promotions above, the 2020 Hoopcoming King will be announced at halftime and the Trojans indoor track and field team will be recognized for their second place finish at last week's Sun Belt Indoor Track and Field Championship.

LAST TIME OUT- (Troy- 9-21, 5-14 Sun Belt)
The Trojans look to close out the 2019-20 season strong on Tuesday night. A victory would be Troy's sixth Sun Belt Conference victory of the season and would eclipse Troy's five SBC wins from a season ago. The Trojans will look to bounce back after a tough 78-63 setback at South Alabama. In that game the Trojans did hit 11 3-pointers for the first time since Feb. 7. Junior Khalyl Waters tied his career-high, scoring 15 points. The junior also grabbed a career-best 9 rebounds in his 27 minutes (also a career high). Senior Charles Norman also made a big impact for the Trojans, scoring a career-high 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Norman's five 3-pointers made tie his previous career high (Nov. 15, 2018). After falling behind by as many as 28 points, the Trojans closed the game on a 30-17 run. Troy cut the South Alabama lead to just 11 points with 1:39 left, but were not able to draw any closer. Freshman Jakevan Leftridge made his return to the game action for the Trojans, scoring six points on 2-of-3 shooting in 18 minutes.

LAST TIME OUT- (UT Arlington, 12-9, 6-4 Sun Belt)
The UT Arlington Mavericks enter Tuesday's contest looking to snap a two-game losing streak. The Mavericks will also look to improve their positioning for next week's Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Currently sitting in a tie for seventh place with Coastal Carolina, the Mavericks can finish sixth with a victory or as low as eighth with a loss. Before its mini two-game skid, UTA had won its last four in a row. On Friday night the Mavericks played host to Texas State. In a game that was televised on ESPN2, the Bobcats and Mavericks battled deep into triple overtime. Trailing by six points with less than four minutes to play, the Mavericks battled back to tie the game at 59 with 26 second remaining. Texas State had a chance to win the game in regulation but Eric Terry missed a jumper, sending the game to an extra five-minute period. In overtime, neither Texas State or UTA were able to take more than a two-point lead. After a Nijal Pearson jumper gave Texas State a 63-61 lead, Tiandr Jackson-Young nailed a 3-pointer that gave UTA a 64-63 lead with 1:58 to play. Just 28 seconds later David Azore was fouled, and hit a free throw, giving UTA a 65-63 lead. After an Eric Terry hook-shot tied the game at 65, Brian Warren couldn't connect on a jumper that would have given the Mavericks the lead. In double overtime, Texas State scored seven of the first nine points of the period to take a 72-67 lead with 2:39 remaining. On the next two UTA possessions, Azore hit three free throws to cut the Bobcats lead to 72-69. A jumper and free throw from Nijal Pearson increased the Bobcats advantage to 75-70 with 26 second to play. After the Mavericks hit a 3-pointer to cut the Tx State lead to 75-73, Nijal Pearson was fouled and added a free throw to extend the Bobcat lead to 76-73 with 15 seconds left. After a pair of Nicolas Elame free throws cut the UTA deficit to 76-75, Azore was able to tie up Caleb Asberry to give UTA possession of the basketball. With a chance to win it, Elame was fouled, and made only the first free throw attempt, missing what could have been the game winner. After a back-and-forth stretch, Texas State ultimately outlasted UTA, using an Eric Terry and-one with 12 seconds to play.

Trojan Storylines:
• Tuesday's matchup with UT Arlington is Troy's final game of the 2019-20 season. Tuesday will also be senior Charles Norman's final game as a Trojan. Norman recorded a career-best 17 points in his final road game on Saturday. Norman was 5-of-7 from 3-point range.

• Junior Khalyl Waters tied his career high on Saturday, scoring 15 points. Waters grabbed a career-high 9 rebounds played a career-best 27 minutes. The juniors previously scored 15 points against Arkansas State back on Jan. 25.

• Freshman Jakevan Leftridge returned to the lineup on Saturdy night, after missing 10 games due to injury. Leftridge played 18 minutes on Saturday and hit 2-of-his-3 field goal attempts. The freshman also had a pair of assists and to steals. Troy is just 4-14 when he doesn't play.

• Ty Gordon is averaging 14.1 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 13.9 points in conference play, shooting 39.3 percent from the field. Gordon now has 20 games with at least 10 points and 17 games with three assists.

• Troy has won six of its last nine 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 75 total charges this season through 30 games (2.5-per- game). The Trojans have drawn at least one charge 27 of 30 games.

Broadcast Information
ESPN +: Barry McKnight (PBP) and Jerry Miller (Color)
Live Audio: TroyTrojans.com/watch
Radio: Doug Amos on the Troy Sports Radio Network

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Players Mentioned

Ty Gordon

Jakevan Leftridge

Charles Norman

Khalyl Waters

Troy University Athletics