Troy University’s men’s basketball team will play its final regular-season road game against South Alabama on Saturday in a key Sun Belt Conference matchup. The Trojans, currently 18–10 overall and 10–5 in conference play, are coming off a narrow 77–76 victory over ULM. In that game, Kerrington Kiel scored the decisive basket with just over seven seconds left, finishing with a career-high 15 points—13 of which came in the second half—alongside three assists and two blocks.
Thomas Dowd contributed his 15th double-double of the season for Troy, recording 12 points and 11 rebounds. His third rebound during the ULM game set a new Division I single-season record for Troy with his 278th rebound, surpassing Alex Hicks’ previous mark of 277 set during the 2017-18 season.
Heading into Saturday’s contest, Troy is tied with Marshall atop the Sun Belt standings; both teams have identical conference records at 10–5. App State and Texas State trail closely behind at 10–6 each, while South Alabama sits one-and-a-half games out of first place.
South Alabama holds a record of 19-9 overall and is 9-6 in conference play after an overtime loss to Texas State on Thursday night. Chaze Harris led the Jaguars with 28 points in that game, while Adam Olsen added another 22 points. Harris averages a league-best 19.0 points per game this season—ranking him first in the Sun Belt and among the top scorers nationally—and Olsen contributes an average of 16.4 points per game while shooting over thirty-eight percent from beyond the arc.
Troy has historically struggled against South Alabama, holding a lifetime record of sixteen wins to thirty-one losses against their rivals. Earlier this season on January 3rd, however, Troy defeated South Alabama by ten points (59-49), led by Thomas Dowd’s performance of eighteen points and fifteen rebounds.
The upcoming matchup will take place in Mobile, Alabama on Saturday at 3 p.m., available for viewing on ESPN+ or via audio through the Troy Sports Media Network.
Coach Scott Cross is now in his seventh year leading Troy’s program with an overall record of one hundred twenty-one wins to ninety-seven losses. Under Cross’s leadership over the past four seasons, Troy has consistently achieved more than twenty wins each year—including at least ten Sun Belt victories annually—a feat unmatched by any other team in the conference during this period.
Victor Valdes remains close to breaking another school milestone; he has made one hundred forty-three free throws so far this season and needs fourteen more to surpass Terry McCord’s all-time single-season mark set during the early nineties.
After Saturday’s road finale—the last contest of a four-game away stretch—Troy returns home to face Louisiana at Trojan Arena next Tuesday evening.
