Troy Opens Sun Belt Tournament Friday Against UTA

TROY, Ala. -- The Troy men's basketball program opens play at the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Friday night against UT Arlington. Tip-off from the Pensacola Bay Center is set for 8 p.m. with live coverage available on ESPN+.

With a victory Friday night, the Trojans would advance to the Sun Belt quarterfinals against Coastal Carolina, who earned a first-round bye in the tournament. Tip-off from Pensacola State College and the Hartsell Arena is set for 7:30 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW:
TROY (10-16. 4-12 Sun Belt) vs. UT Arlington (13-12, 9-8 Sun Belt)
DATE: Mar. 5, 2021
TIME: 8 PM
LOCATION: Pensacola Bay Center
WATCH: Watch Live
LISTEN: Listen Live
STATS: Stats

THE WEEK THAT WAS (Troy- 10-16, 4-12):
The Troy Trojans dropped a pair of contests to Coastal Carolina last weekend, including a tough 76-71 senior day setback. In Friday's 75-59 loss, the Trojans rode a strong first half to a 33-28 halftime lead. Following the break, Coastal Carolina used a 22-5 run over the first 7:42 of the second half to take a 52-38 lead with 12:18 to play. In that contest, two Trojans reached double-figures led by Nick Stampley's team-best 14 points and Desmond Williams' 12 points. Redshirt freshman Essam Mostafa led the way for Coastal, scoring a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds. On Saturday, the Trojans fell despite a career-best 24 points from Nick Stampley and 19 points and eight assists from freshman Duke Miles. The Trojans turned the ball over just six times, and tied the contest at 49-49, but a key 7-1 run for CCU gave the visitors control of the contest and the season series sweep over the Trojans.

THE WEEK THAT WAS (UT Arlington- 13-12, 9-8 Sun Belt):
UTA enters the Sun Belt Conference tournament having won back-to-back contests against Arkansas State. With the weekend sweep the Mavericks clinched the season series over the Red Wolves. So far this season seven of UTAs nine wins are against Arkansas State and ULM. Overcoming a slow start on Friday, the Mavericks used a four-point play at the buzzer from David Azore to hold on for a 73-71 victory over the Red Wolves. On Saturday, the Mavericks earned a hard fought 64-56 victory. Despite trailing 56-55 with 4:06 left to play the Mavs closed the contest on a 9-0 run to sweep the weekend series. So far this season three different Mavericks are averaging in double-figures led by Shahada Wells (16.7 points) and Sam Griffin (13.6 points).

STORYLINES:

HEADING TO THE BEACH
Troy opens the Sun Belt Conference Tournament down in Pensacola with a first round matchup against UT Arlington. If the Trojans are able to get past the Mavericks, they would advance to Saturday's quarterfinals against Coastal Carolina.

ALL AROUND ME ARE FAMILIAR FACES
Friday's matchup against UT Arlington features a battle between a couple of familiar faces. Troy HC Scott Cross spent nearly two decades at UT Arlington first as player, then as an assistant. Cross was named the the HC at UTA ahead of the 2006-07 season and spent 12 years at the helm of the Mavs program. Current UTA associate HC Greg Young was hired by Cross before the 2009-10 season, and AC Kenneth Mangrum spent four seasons working at UTA under Cross.

D E Z FOR THREE
Sophomore Desmond Williams is hitting his stride down the stretch run of the season. The sophomore has hit at least one shot from distance in at five straight contests and is shooting 35.6 percent from three in Sun Belt play. The guard has made 21 of his 31 triples during SBC play. His 31 threes are the most on the Troy team.

LEAVING HIS STAMP
Senior Nick Stampley has scored 184 points and grabbed 75 rebounds over his last 11 games. The senior is averaging 16.7 points and 6.8 rebounds a game over that span. The senior has scored in double figures 10 times in that stretch and has scored at least 10 points in 15 of his last 19 contests (excluding the game at Ga Southern where he was knocked out in the fifth minute of play). Stampley needs just six points to reach the 500-point mark as a Trojan. Stampley is averaging 14.6 points and 6.6 rebounds a game in conference play and has shot an impressive 41-of-50 from the line in SBC play.

KEEPING IT LOCAL
The Trojans will hopefully have a bit of a home-court advantage this weekend down in Pensacola. The Trojans are the second closest team to the Sun Belt Conference tournament site. Rival South Alabama is the closest to Pensacola (58 Miles). The Trojans are 147 miles from the Bay Center.

BACK IN THE POSTSEASON
The Trojans are back in the Sun Belt Conference tournament for the first time since the 2017-18 season. Entering the tournament as the defending champs, the Trojans defeated South Alabama in the opening round before falling to Georgia State in the quarterfinals.

WITH A WIN
With a victory, Troy would advance to the quarterfinals where Coastal Carolina would await. The Trojans have led at the half in three of the four matchups against CCU this season.

LOCK DOWN DEFENSE
Troy is 8-2 this season when holding an opponent to six or fewer triples. After dropping a contest at UAB in the first instance, the Trojans had won eight straight games when holding a team to six or fewer triples before dropping a Thursday contest at South Alabama. The Trojans are also 8-2 when holding teams below 30 percent shooting from behind the 3-point arc.

ZAY DAY!
Junior Zay Williams reached the 500 point mark back on Feb. 6 against Georgia Southern. The forward is averaging 10.5 points and 8.1 rebounds this season. The forward has seven games with at least 10 rebounds.

ROARING WATERS
Senior Khalyl Waters continues to impress this season. The combo guard is averaging 8.3 points a game and is shooting an impressive 66-of-74 (89.2%) percent from the line. His 90.0 percent mark is currently ranked 8th in the entire NCAA (min. 50 attempts) and leads the SBC. Waters has recorded at least 20 points twice this season. Waters scored a career-best 21 against Samford on Dec. 16.

DEFENSE HAS LED TO WINS
The Trojans were 7-1 last season when they held teams to 65 points or fewer. Troy's lone loss when holding a team below that mark was at Texas A&M (56-52, loss). The Trojans were also 8-1 last season when holding an opponent to less than 40 percent shooting. Troy's win over Samford is the first time that Troy won when a team shot better than 40 percent from the field and scored more than 65 (1-3). So far this season Troy is 8-2 when holding a team below 65 points and 8-2 when holding teams to 40 percent shooting or less.

REP THE 'T'
Head coach Scott Cross preaches the mantra that the toughest team always wins. So far this season Troy has taken 61 total charges in 26 games. The Trojans took three charges Friday against Georgia Southern and have taken at least two charges in every game except against where they failed to take one and the weekend finale against Ga Southern last weekend. Troy took 80 charges in 31 games a season ago. Nick Stampley took 32 of those 80 (40 percent). Stampley took his 50th career charge this season in just his 48th career game.

Troy Opens Sun Belt Tournament Friday Against UTA

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Players Mentioned

Duke Miles

Nick Stampley

Khalyl Waters

Desmond Williams

Zay Williams

Troy University Athletics