Troy Falls to Texas State, 74-73

Thursday, January 9

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

10-5,3-1Sun Belt

Texas State

9-7,2-2Sun Belt

Texas St.

Troy

1/9/2025 10:37:00 PM | Basketball (M)

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TROY, Ala. – The Troy men's basketball team was unable to find the necessary stops on defense and buckets on offense to continue its undefeated conference start, as it fell to Texas State 74-73 inside Trojan Arena on Thursday night.

Troy (10-5, 3-1 SBC) tied the game at 73-73 with seven seconds left in regulation on a physical layup by Thomas Dowd, but Texas State's (9-7, 2-2 SBC) Tylan Pope drew a foul with 1.1 seconds left to take the lead after making his second free-throw attempt. Marcus Rigsby Jr.'s halfcourt heave at the buzzer came up short.

The Trojans were leading by nine at halftime after shooting 46.2 percent from the field. The team came out of the gates strong on both ends, as it built up a 24-13 lead with 10:05 left in the first half.

Troy closed the first 20 minutes on a 9-3 run to take a 41-32 lead into the locker room. Theo Seng had a team-high nine points for the Trojans after going 6-6 from the free-throw in the first half. The Trojans took 18 of its 31 total free throws before the break.

The Bobcats came out much crisper in the second half and tied things up at 51 with 12:26 left in the game. From there, the two teams went back and forth for the remaining 12 minutes. Troy led 69-66 with just under three minutes to play. Less than 40 seconds later, Texas State took a two-point lead and Troy never led again.

Pope finished his impressive night for Texas State with a game-high 27 points on 9-16 shooting, which included him going 8-11 from the charity stripe. Mark Drone, who didn't appear in a game this season until tonight, had 17 points for the Bobcats.

Tayton Conerway finished the night with a team-high 15 points for Troy, while also recording five steals, four assists and three rebounds. Myles Rigsby was the other Trojan in double figures scoring with 12 points.

A key to Texas State's victory was its free-throw shooting, as it was 18-21 (85.7 percent) while Troy went 24-31 (77.4 percent). The Bobcats also won the rebounding battle (34-31) and the paint battle (36-32).

Despite the loss, Troy outshot Texas State 47.8 percent to 42.4 percent.

Quotable – head coach Scott Cross
"The first 10 minutes we played the right way. Then it seemed we got a little bit selfish, honestly. We started thinking about stat sheets and stopped thinking about doing the little things like defending, rebounding; all the things that made us successful. Honestly, we self-destructed. They were tougher than us. They had more will. They had more grit to them. For one reason or another, our guys didn't sit down and defend."

Up Next
Troy returns to the Trojan Arena hardwood on Saturday afternoon as it takes on Arkansas State, who was picked first in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll. Tipoff is slated for 3:33 p.m., with the game being broadcast on ESPN+ and the Troy Sports Media Network.

Notables
• Troy moves to 8-12 all-time against Texas State.
• Tayton Conerway had a team-high 15 points on Thursday. He has now scored 15-plus points in each of the last three games.
• Myles Rigsby also scored in double-digits for Troy with 12 points.
• Conerway had five steals on Thursday night, his second-straight game with five steals. He entered Thursday night sixth in the country in total steals.
• Troy moves to 9-2 (2-1 SBC) when leading at halftime this season after taking a nine-point lead into the break on Thursday.
• Thursday was Troy's first loss this season when scoring more than 70 points. It was 8-0 prior to Thursday.
• Troy is 6-2 (1-1 SBC) inside Trojan Arena this year.