Troy University Athletics
Troy Travels to South Alabama for In-State Clash
1/17/2025 3:05:00 PM | Basketball (M)
TROY, Ala. – After getting back into the win column on Wednesday evening against ULM, the Troy men's basketball teams travels to Mobile for an in-state showdown with rival South Alabama at the Mitchell Center on Saturday afternoon.
Troy (11-6, 4-2 SBC) dominated ULM on the road last Wednesday thanks to a pair of career performances from Cooper Campbell and Tayton Conerway. The win snapped a two-game loosing streak for the Trojans. South Alabama (13-5, 5-1 SBC) defeated Southern Miss at home on Wednesday, and sits atop the Sun Belt standings.
Game Information
The Matchup: Troy at South Alabama
When: Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 | 3 p.m.
Where: Mobile, Ala. | Mitchell Center (10,041)
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Troy Sports Media Network | Barry McKnight (PxP)
Live Stats: Troystats.com
A Force in the Backcourt
The Troy starting backcourt of Campbell and Conerway combined for 26 points in Troy's win on Wednesday. Campbell, a freshman making just his second career start and first on the road, had a career and team-high 16 points on 7-13 shooting. Campbell has been impressive on offense all season, and is shooting 50.8 (33-65) from the field this season.
Following his 32-point performance last Saturday against Arkansas State, Conerway followed up his performance with his first career double-double – 10 points and 12 assists. His 12 assists are the most in his career, and Wednesday marked the first time that a Trojan had double-digit assists since Will Weathers had 12 against ULM on Jan. 21, 2012. That performance by Weathers was also the last time a Trojan had a double-double made up of points and assists until Wednesday.
Conerway currently leads the Trojans in total assists with 83, a number that is second in the Sun Belt and 59th nationally. It hasn't just been on the offensive side of the ball where Conerway has thrived this season, though, as he is third in the country in steals this season with 53 – just 10 off the first place total. He's been a key reason that Troy has found so much success in forcing turnovers this season.
The Trojans are second in the Sun Belt and in the top 75 in the country with 13.9 turnovers forced per game. Opponents are shooting just 41.4 percent against the Trojans this season, giving Troy the 4th ranked field goal percentage defense in the conference and 80th in the country.
Redshirt-freshman forward Kerrington Kiel made the first start of his career on Wednesday, and had eight points and 10 rebounds. It was just the second time this season a Troy player has snagged double-digit rebounds in a game (Jackson Fields 10 at New Orleans).
Scouting South Alabama
The Jaguars are the hottest team in the Sun Belt so far this season, having won five of their first six SBC matchups. South Alabama's lone conference loss came last Saturday at home against Old Dominion. Myles Corey has been a key reason for the teams success this season, as he is scoring a team-high 16.1 points on 45.6 percent shooting. Also scoring in double figures for the Jaguars is Barry Dunning Jr (12.7) and Judah Brown (10.6).
As a team, South Alabama is holding its opponents to 61.6 points on 37.6 percent from the field to give itself a +12.9 scoring margin, the best in the Sun Belt.
Troy is 14-30 all-time against South Alabama, but one the last matchup 83-79 in Trojan Arena last January.
Notables
• Scott Cross is in his sixth season at the helm for Troy men's basketball, and his 18th as a Division I men's basketball head coach. While at Troy he has put together an 91-82 record, which includes three straight seasons of 20 or more wins. In each of those three seasons, he has also led the Trojans to 10 or more conference wins.
• Troy got back in the win column after a strong win on the road against ULM on Wednesday night.
• Three Trojans scored in double-figures, with freshman Cooper Campbell leading the way with a career-high 16 points. Thomas Dowd had 13, while Tayton Conerway had 10.
• Tayton Conerway had a career-high 32 points against Arkansas State last Saturday. It's the first time a Trojan has scored 30-plus points since 2019.
• Against ULM, Conerway had the first double-double of his career with 10 points and a career-high 12 assists.
• Troy's last road trip saw it go 2-0 with wins over App State and Marshall. Conerway was named the Sun Belt Men's Basketball Player of the Week after the strong showing.
• The Trojans entered 2024-25 picked to finish third in the Sun Belt Coaches Preseason Poll, which is the highest it had been selected to finish since the start of the 2017-18 season. Troy received one first-place vote.
• Troy leads the Sun Belt in rebounding margin at +6.1 (41st in D-I)
• The Trojans are second in the conference in bench points per game (27.5), free throw percentage (72.2), offensive rebounds per game (13.7), turnovers forced per game (13.9) and steals per game (9.4).
• Scott Cross has started 15 of 17 games this season with the same starting lineup (Rigsby Jr., Conerway, Rigsby, Dowd and Fields). Troy had its first different lineup on Saturday, as Cooper Campbell and Victor Valdes replaced Marcus Rigsby Jr., and Myles Rigsby.
