Troy Completes Comeback; Advances to Face No. 4-Seed James Madison in Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 2

Pensacola, Fla.

2 p.m.

Troy University

20-12,11-7Sun Belt

Arkansas State

13-20,4-14Sun Belt

Arkansas St.

Troy

Troy Completes Comeback; Advances to Face No. 4-Seed James Madison in Quarterfinals

3/2/2023 5:38:00 PM | Basketball (M)

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Down 12 with 8:55 to go, the Troy men's basketball team outscored Arkansas State 24-8 to advance to the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals, 63-59, on Thursday afternoon in the Pensacola Bay Center.

For the first time in almost 20 years (2002-04), the Trojans (20-12, 11-7 SBC) reached back-to-back 20-win seasons as they eliminated the Red Wolves (13-20, 4-14 SBC) in their third meeting of 2022-23.

Zay Williams and Nelson Phillips both acquired double-doubles in the victory, with Williams being the leading scorer with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, Phillips had the team-high in rebounds, ending with 14, with 13 points to boost. Aamer Muhammad finished with seven points, but his final four iced the game at the charity stripe in the last minute.

Markise Davis produced 21 points and four rebounds off the bench, shooting 9-of-12 from the field and 3-of-3 from deep. Starters Caleb Fields and Terrance Ford Jr. ended with double-digit at 13 points apiece, but it was forward Omar El-Sheikh being held to one point that made the difference.

Clutch Time
Arkansas State controlled the tempo for most of the second half, taking a 12-point lead with 8:55 left after Davis took the assist from Fields and converted the triple, 51-39.

The following possession saw Williams drive inside and force the foul while shooting for two free throw attempts. It only took one to jumpstart the Trojans as they mounted their comeback with 8:39 left, 51-40.

Williams missed his second free throw attempt, and it was tipped outside, where Phillips saved it from going out of bounds. He tossed it to Christyon Eugene, who drove inside, only to dish it to a wide-open Kieffer Punter at the top of the arc for the three, 51-43 – 11:30 mark of the second.

A miss by Fields for ASU allowed Phillips to grab his 10^th rebound of the game and take it coast-to-coast for the fastbreak driving layup, 51-46, at the 12:11 mark.

ASU responded after the media timeout, with 7:16 remaining, ending a 7-0 run for Troy after Eugene made a free throw when Izaiyah Nelson got the alley-oop from Fields to slam it down, 53-46.

Williams returned the favor with two free throws, followed by a swipe from Eugene at the 14:10 mark, where he took it down the court in five seconds for the driving lay-in, 53-50.

Both sides traded points until the 16:36 mark of the second when Muhammad missed the lay-in, but Phillips was there for the putback jam, 57-56. Phillips kept the momentum going by stealing the ball from Ford Jr. and hitting the stepback 3-pointer to give Troy its first lead, 59-57, since the 14:22 mark of the first.

The Red Wolves had three chances to tie the game, failing to convert on any of them, which allowed Muhammad to knock down four straight free throws to ice the game and send Troy to the quarterfinals, 63-59.

Head Coach Scott Cross
"My hat goes off to ASU and their head coach, Mike Balado. They played as hard as any team that we have competed against all season long, and they led for about 25 minutes of the game. It was a similar situation when we played them in Jonesboro. They know how to fight. I feel terrible for them, but I feel great for us. In the last eight minutes, we buckled down defensively. We did everything right. To me, this game honors toughness. They were the tougher team until the final eight minutes. I feel very grateful to be sitting here knowing we are playing on Saturday. You take away one or two of those plays down the stretch, and the roles would be reversed."

Second Round Notables
• In the final 8:55, the Trojans outscored ASU 24-8 after being outscored 17-9 through the first 11:05 of the second.
• For the first time since Samford on Dec. 16, 2020, the Trojans had two double-figure rebounders in Williams and Phillips – Williams and Nick Stampley ended with 13 and 12 rebounds against Samford, respectively.
• Troy is now 3-0 in its opening round under Cross, defeating UT-Arlington in 2021 and Little Rock in 2022.
• Turnovers were vital for the Trojans, forcing 10 total on the Red Wolves to outscore them 14-2 in points off turnovers.
• Troy returned from being down 34-30 at halftime, improving their record when trailing at the half to 6-8, 5-6 in SBC.

Next Up
The Trojans prepare for the quarterfinals, where they will take on James Madison on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Pensacola Bay Center.