Troy University Athletics
Troy University
16-9,9-4Sun Belt
Louisiana
8-18,5-8Sun Belt
Troy Dismantles Louisiana on the Road
2/12/2025 11:55:00 PM | Basketball (M)
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Troy men's basketball team snapped its two-game losing streak with a dominant 74-56 win over Louisiana in the Cajundome on Wednesday night, as Thomas Dowd and Myles Rigsby shined for the Trojans.
Troy (16-9, 9-4 SBC) dominated in nearly every area of the game, and had a stress-free second half thanks to a an impressive double-double from Dowd and 19 points from Rigsby. Louisiana (8-18, 5-8 SBC) struggled shooting the ball and couldn't slow down Troy in the final 20 minutes.
Dowd had a season-high in points (19) and rebounds (12) to record his first double-double of the season and the second of his career. He and Rigsby were key to the Trojans pulling away in the second half, as both players had 15 of their 19 points in the final 20 minutes.
Both teams got off to a slow start in the first half, and Troy found itself down 10-9 at the under-12 media timeout. Coming out of the break, the Trojans seemed to find some offensive groove, going on a 12-4 run to take a 21-14 lead. The Trojans did not trail for the remainder of the game. Troy was able to push its lead to 11 with less than a minute to go, but a last-second jumper by Louisiana gave Troy a 29-20 lead at halftime.
It wasn't the cleanest offensive half for Troy, as it shot just 40.7 percent from the field and turned it over eight times. Defensively, though, the Trojans played strong and held the Ragin' Cajuns to 30.8 percent shooting. Marcus Rigsby Jr., had eight points in the first 20 minutes to lead Troy.
Coming out of the locker room, Troy caught fire and used a 16-4 run to take a commanding 46-24 lead. The 22-point advantage was the largest for the Trojans all night. The Ragin' Cajuns string a few possessions together through the half, but were never able to trim its deficit to less than 12.
Dowd and Rigsby went 10-14 from the field and 4-6 from three to combine for 30 of Troy's 45 second-half points. The duo helped Troy put together a blistering shooting mark of 51.7 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes.
Troy finished the night shooting 46.4 percent (26-56) from the field. The Trojans passed the ball extremely well on Wednesday, recording 19 assists. This season, Troy is now 13-1 when recording 15 or more assists. Tayton Conerway led the way with seven, while Rigsby Jr., had six and no turnovers.
The Trojans also demolished the Ragin' Cajuns on the boards, winning the rebounding battle 42-20. Troy's 17 offensive rebounds were three more than Louisiana's defensive rebounds. IN addition to Dowd's 12 rebounds, Jackson Fields was second on the team with eight. Six of Dowd's rebounds came on the offensive class, while Fields had four.
Troy also had the edge in points in the paint (36-28), second chance points (14-4) and fast break points (19-8).
Rigsby's 19 points for Troy came on 7-9 shooting, while Dowd was 6-12.
Louisiana finished the night shooting 40.8 percent (20-49) from the field and 25 percent (3-12) from distance. Mostapha El Moutaouakkil had 19 points for the Ragin' Cajuns, while Jeremiah Evans had 10.
Quotable – head coach Scott Cross
"I'm thankful to the good Lord for this victory. Thankful for these guys. We did learn some lessons along the way. When we played together as a team and are connected – which I did feel we were connected tonight – we're really good. Our defense was pretty solid for the majority of the game. Our rebounding was phenomenal. This guy over here, Thomas Dowd, was a warrior. He grabbed 12 rebounds and had 19 points. Marcus Rigsby had a phenomenal game, having six assists, zero turnovers and eight points. Myles had 19 points on nine shots, that's really hard to do. He was a pit bull.
Up Next
Sitting just one game back of Arkansas State, the Trojans and Red Wolves battle on Saturday night in Jonesboro in arguably the biggest game in the Sun Belt this season. The game was elevated to a national broadcast and will air on ESPN2. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. with Barry McKnight calling the game on the Troy Sports Media Network. Live stats will be available at Troystats.com.
Game 25 Notables
• Thomas Dowd record his first double-double of the season – third in his career – after setting season highs in points (19) and rebounds (12). It's the third double-double for a Trojan this season.
• Myles Rigsby tied Dowd with 19 points on 7-9 shooting. It's his 16th game scoring in double figures this season and the 33 of his career.
• Dowd and Rigsby combined for 30 points in the second half after each had 15 on a combined 10-14 from the field and 4-6 from three.
• Troy had 19 assists on the night, and are now 13-1 this season when recording 15 or more assists in a game.
• Tayton Conerway had a team-high seven assists and has recorded three-plus assists in 22 of 25 games this season. Marcus Rigsby Jr., had six assists and zero turnovers.
• Troy held Louisiana to 56 points on Wednesday. The Trojans are 7-0 (6-0 SBC) when limiting its opponents to less than 60 points this season.
• Troy won the rebounding battle 42-20. The Trojans had more offensive rebounds (17) than the Ragin' Cajuns had defensive rebounds (14).
• Troy had the edge in points in the paint (36-28), second chance points (14-4) and fast break points (19-8).
• Troy moves to 10-22 all-time against Louisiana. It's won the last four matchups and will go for the series sweep next Thursday in Trojan Arena.
