Troy Ready for ‘awesome opportunity’ Against Kentucky

Troy players celebrated after winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. (Troy Athletics Photo)

Troy has won 23 games this season, its most wins in 21 seasons, and now gets a chance to play Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region in Milwaukee Friday.

Troy earned the Sun Belt Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tourney with a 94-81 victory over Arkansas State a week ago. The Trojans (23-10) are on a six-game winning streak and won all three of their Sun Belt Tournament games by 13 or more points.

Troy lost 65-49 at Arkansas on Nov. 13 and 82-61 at Oregon on Nov. 17. The Trojans lost Houston, a No. 1 NCAA seed, 62-42 in mid-December.

“This is a huge day for Troy Basketball and we’re thrilled to be representing our university and community on a national stage,” coach Scott Cross said. “This will be an awesome opportunity to show the country what we’re all about.

“Our players and staff have worked so hard to get to this moment and I cannot wait to get to Milwaukee and start competing.”

The Trojans rank 10th nationally in steals (9.4 per game), 11th in offensive rebounds (13.9), 25th in scoring defense (65.4), 26th in blocks (4.7), 27th in the field goal percentage defense (40.3), 28th in rebound margin (+5.6) and 30th in total rebounding (38.6).

Sun Belt Player of the Year Tayton Conerway leads the team with 14.3 points, 4.8 assists and 2.9 steals in 30.4 minutes per game — all team highs. The 6-3 senior guard, the Sun Belt Tournament’s most outstanding player, ranks third in the country in steals.

Conerway had 16 second-half points in the 94-81 win over Arkansas State in the Sun Belt title game. He finished with a  game-high 21 points and also pulled off six rebounds. Conerway averaged 20.3 points per game over Troy’s three tournament victories.

Thomas Down, a 6-8 forward named to the Sun Belt all-tourney team, averages 9.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He had 14 points and nine rebounds in the conference title game after going for 18 points and 11 rebounds the previous game.

Myles Rigsby was 9-for-10 at the foul line and 5-for-10 from the field for Troy in the NCAA Tournament clinching win and finished with 20 points.

Troy has won 20 or more games the last four years and his 103 wins at Troy are tied for third most in program history.

“The last time I was in the NCAA Tournament was 2008. I don’t take this for granted by any means,” Cross said. “This is one of the hardest things to do, especially in the Sun Belt because there are 14 teams, and they are very close in terms of talent and ability. It’s a different league. It’s a gauntlet.”