Troy University’s men’s basketball team is preparing to face South Alabama in a Sun Belt Conference matchup on Saturday at Trojan Arena. The game is scheduled to begin at 3:33 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Troy enters the contest with a 9-5 overall record and an undefeated 2-0 mark in conference play. The Trojans are coming off a strong offensive showing against Texas State, where they secured a 100–80 win. During that game, Troy shot over 61 percent from the field and more than 62 percent from three-point range, both of which are their best performances against a Sun Belt opponent since 2015 and 2017, respectively.
Junior Thomas Dowd led the team with 22 points against Texas State, marking his third game this season scoring more than 20 points. Jerrell Bellamy contributed with 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while Kerrington Kiel added nine points and three steals.
South Alabama holds an 11-4 record overall and is 2-1 in conference play after recently defeating Louisiana by five points. Adam Olsen leads South Alabama in scoring with an average of 16.7 points per game, closely followed by Chaze Harris at 16.6 points per game. Olsen also averages three made three-pointers per game, ranking first in the Sun Belt Conference.
The two teams met twice last January; after losing on the road, Troy won the rematch at home by ten points behind Cooper Campbell’s twelve-point performance. Historically, Troy has won fifteen out of forty-six games played against South Alabama.
Troy reached the century mark for only the sixth time this season during its recent win over Texas State—this ties them for second nationally in games scoring at least one hundred points this year.
Thomas Dowd ranks among national leaders with ten rebounds per game and is one of nine players averaging at least fifteen points and ten rebounds each contest.
Scott Cross continues as head coach for his seventh season at Troy, compiling a record of 112 wins to ninety-two losses during his tenure. Under Cross’s leadership over the past four seasons, Troy has achieved twenty or more wins each year along with double-digit victories within conference play annually.
Victor Valdes currently leads Troy in scoring this season with an average of seventeen point two points per game; Thomas Dowd follows closely behind while leading all Sun Belt players in rebounding; Cooper Campbell adds fourteen point six points and five assists per contest.
Following Saturday’s matchup against South Alabama—which concludes a stretch where all games were played within Alabama—Troy will travel to face Arkansas State on January seventh for another conference meeting.
