Troy basketball dominated the Sun Belt tournament on their way to their third tournament appearance in program history.
General Information:
Team:Â Troy
Location:Â Troy, Alabama
Record:Â 23-10 (12-5)
Head Coach:Â Scott Cross (18th season, 6th at Troy)
What to know about Troy basketball:
Troy basketball has won 20 games in four straight seasons. They finally broke through this year, winning the Sun Belt tournament as the 3rd seed, although they split the regular season title four ways after a 13-5 season. They won all three games by double digits, beating Old Dominion by 16, James Madison by 19, and Arkansas State by 13.
The regular season conference MVP was also the tournament MVP, Tayton Conerway. Conerway, a 6’3 guard averaged 14.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 4.8 APG. He also stole an impressive 2.9 balls a game, one of the best in the country. In the conference tournament, he showed off, scoring 18+ in all three games, and did so on over 50% shooting.
It’s not a one-man team, because this Troy team has two brothers who provide a big boost for the program, Myles and Marcus Rigsby. Myles is the higher-impact performer, averaging 12.0 PPG for the team. It was Thomas Dowd, the 6’8 forward who came up big in the tournament, averaging 16.0 PPG in the final two games and 10 rebounds.
Troy does two things really well, and two really poorly. To start, they block shots and rebound at a high rate. They finished top 40 in both stats, meaning that for the opposing team, they’ll need to try to create separation and minimize second-chance opportunities, because they won’t get many.
They really struggle with turnovers, finishing in the bottom 300. The big hole though is the three-point shooting. Troy shot about 30% from three, bottom 30 in the country. This is obviously a huge concern, and one that was avoidable in conference play, but against bigger and better teams could be life or death.
NCAA Tournament prediction for Troy basketball: Round of 64 Exit
Seed: 14
This game could be closer than people expect, especially if Lamont Butler isn’t at 100% for Kentucky. The big concern though is how they competed against current tournament teams. They lost to Arkansas by 16, Oregon by 21, and Houston by 20. They failed to score 50 points in two of those games.
This team ended the season hot, and perhaps they can ride that momentum into this game. They’ve won eight of their last nine, with seven of those being either neutral or on the road. No matter what, this tournament is headed in the right direction. Don’t be surprised if we see them in this same spot next year.