Troy University Athletics
Troy University
10-6,4-0Sun Belt
Louisiana
8-8,1-3Sun Belt
Troy Men’s Basketball Takes Down Louisiana, Pushes Win Streak to Five
1/10/2024 11:36:00 PM | Basketball (M)
TROY, Ala. — After a back-and-forth second half, the Troy men's basketball team pulled away in the final minutes of the game to defeat Louisiana, 79-73, at Trojan Arena on Wednesday night.
Troy (10-6, 4-0 SBC) is off to its best conference start since the 2003-04 season and its best conference start since joining the Sun Belt in 2005.
Following a two-game stretch where he only scored 14 points, Christyon Eugene put together an impressive offensive showing, as he scored 22 points on 7-9 shooting — including 2-4 from the 3-point range.
The Trojans had a slow offensive start to the game but started piecing it together in the final 10 minutes of the first half to take a seven-point lead into the break.
In the second half, Eugene scored a nifty layup to extend the lead to nine — a game-high — before Louisiana started to get things working offensively.
The Trojan defense and offense struggled for the middle portion of the final 20 minutes and the Ragin' Cajuns took a 65-64 lead with 2:43 remaining in the game.
Troy closed the game on a 15-8 run to run away with its fifth straight victory, dating back to its win over Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 21 at Trojan Arena.
Tayton Conerway had another impressive showing, as he scored 13 points on 5-9 shooting. Aamer Muhammad had his second consecutive double-figure performance as he scored 10 points in the victory.
Troy moves to 9-1 at home this season and to 43-20 all-time at home under Scott Cross.
The Trojans remain tied atop the Sun Belt standings with Marshall.
Found a Way
It wasn't the cleanest performance from the Trojans who shot 50 percent from the field, but only 21.4 percent from three and turned it over 15 times. Troy was also outrebounded 33-31. It's just the fifth time all season the Trojans have lost the rebounding battle.
Even with the flaws, Troy continued to play to its strengths as they forced Louisiana into 20 turnovers, 16 of which were caused by steals. Victor Valdes, Thomas Dowd and Eugene each had a team-high three steals.
Coming into the night, the Trojans were leading the conference in steals per game at 9.8, which is good for 17th nationally. They were 35th in the country in turnovers forced per game at 15.5.
Thoughts from Coach
Head coach Scott Cross gave his thoughts following the game:
"I'm proud of our guys. I think we flew around defensively. Anytime you can force a team to turn it over 20 times and 16 are steals, that means your activity was really really good. I think we gave up a few too many offensive rebounds, but it was a give-and-tack, and the most important stat is, did you win the game? And our guys got it done. It was a team effort. A lot of guys contributed in different ways. Spudd had a great offensive game. Tayton made some big shots for us. Aamer hit some big free throws. I thought all our guys locked up defensively. The guys were doing a great job and creating chaos… When it counted, our guys turned it up and we were able to get the stops."
Up Next
Troy wraps up its four-game homestand on Saturday afternoon as they welcome Southern Miss to Trojan Arena for a 4 p.m. tip-off. The game will follow the women's basketball game against James Madison, slated for a 2 p.m. tip-off.
Game 16 Notes
• Christyon Eugene scored in double-figures for the 13th time this season and scored 20-plus points for the fifth time this season.
• Troy is 9-1 at home this season and is 43-20 at Trojan Arena under Scott Cross.
• Troy's 4-0 conference start is the best since the 2003-04 season and its best conference start since joining the Sun Belt in 2005.
• Troy is 4-0 this season when they shoot 50 percent or better.
• Troy moves to 2-3 this season when scoring 70-79 points.
• Troy is now 8-22 all-time against Louisiana and has won consecutive games against the Ragin' Cajuns for just the second time ever.
