Troy University’s men’s basketball team is preparing for a road game against the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) on Wednesday night at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The matchup is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The Trojans, with a record of 17-10 overall and 9-5 in Sun Belt Conference play, are coming off two road losses last week. Their most recent defeat was a 69-65 loss to Southern Miss, during which they committed 15 turnovers. Thomas Dowd led Troy with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Victor Valdes added 10 points and also grabbed eight rebounds. Austin Cross contributed nine points in a career-high 22 minutes.
This week’s game marks the first of two meetings between Troy and ULM within a nine-day span. The teams will meet again on February 28 at Trojan Arena for the regular-season finale, where Troy will honor its seniors before tip-off.
ULM enters the contest with a record of 4-23 overall and 1-13 in conference play after falling to Texas State by a score of 95-84. In that game, Lavell Brodnex scored 31 points for the Warhawks. Krystian Lewis leads ULM in scoring this season with an average of 17.7 points per game and also leads in assists at three per contest. Brodnex has recorded eight double-doubles this season, ranking fourth in the Sun Belt Conference.
Historically, Troy holds an 18-11 advantage over ULM.
Troy’s Thomas Dowd is approaching a school milestone; he needs two more rebounds to tie and three to set Troy’s Division I single-season rebound record, which Alex Hicks established with 277 rebounds during the 2017-18 season. Victor Valdes is also nearing a record—he is seven made free throws away from surpassing Myles Rigsby’s single-season mark of 142 made free throws set last year.
The Trojans have not lost three consecutive games since February 2023, maintaining consistency throughout this season without back-to-back defeats.
Scott Cross is leading Troy in his seventh season as head coach and has compiled a record of 120-97 during his tenure. Over the past four seasons, Troy has achieved at least twenty wins each year along with ten or more conference victories per season.
Cooper Campbell currently holds the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the Sun Belt Conference at 2.9, ranking him thirty-second nationally; he also ranks second in assists per game within the league at 4.7.
Wednesday’s contest is part of a four-game road stretch for Troy—their longest such run since early spring last year—which concludes Saturday against South Alabama, another top team in the conference standings.
Troy leads the Sun Belt Conference in scoring margin (+7.0) and has won four games this season by margins greater than twenty-five points. This year’s primary scorers are Victor Valdes (15.5 ppg), Thomas Dowd (14.4 ppg), who also leads the conference with an average of ten-point-two rebounds per game, and Theo Seng (12.8 ppg).
The upcoming matchups will help determine final standings as both teams approach their regular-season conclusions.
“Troy has avoided losing streaks this season, and has not dropped three consecutive games in over three years,” according to information from the program’s communications staff.
“Thomas Dowd is two rebounds away from tying and three from setting Troy’s Division I season rebound record,” said team officials regarding individual milestones ahead for players this week.
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