Troy University’s men’s basketball team is preparing to host Arkansas State on Saturday at Trojan Arena, with both teams holding strong records in Sun Belt Conference play. Troy currently stands at 12-6 overall and 5-1 in the conference after a decisive 91-65 win over Southern Miss, which brought them into a tie for first place in the Sun Belt alongside Georgia Southern.
Cobi Campbell led the Trojans in their recent victory, scoring 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including six three-pointers. This performance marks the second-highest individual scoring output by a Trojan this season, following Cooper Campbell’s 32-point game against USC earlier in November. Since 2020, only three Trojans have scored more than 30 points in a single game: Cobi Campbell, Cooper Campbell, and Tayton Conerway.
Saturday’s matchup will be a rematch of last week’s game in Jonesboro, where Arkansas State defeated Troy 86-74. In that contest, Arkansas State led for most of the game and held a lead of up to 20 points. Theo Seng was Troy’s top scorer with 23 points.
The two programs also faced each other in last season’s Sun Belt Tournament championship game. Troy secured an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since the 2016-17 season by overcoming Arkansas State with a strong second-half performance.
Arkansas State enters Saturday’s contest with a record of 12-6 overall and 4-2 in conference play. The Red Wolves recently lost to South Alabama in overtime, ending their two-game winning streak. Matt Hayman leads Arkansas State with an average of 12 points per game, while Jalen Hampton averages seven rebounds per contest. The Red Wolves are ranked second in the Sun Belt for rebounds per game (40.2) and maintain a rebounding margin of plus 6.8 over opponents.
Troy has performed well offensively this season, leading the Sun Belt Conference with an average of 86.2 points per game and ranking first in scoring margin at +9.9. Nationally, they are ranked 32nd for scoring and are currently placed at number 119 on KenPom—its highest rank since late November.
The Trojans have excelled from beyond the arc as well, averaging 10.5 made three-pointers per game (28th nationally). Multiple players have contributed to Troy’s offensive efforts: Victor Valdes averages 15.8 points per game; Thomas Dowd adds another 15.3 points along with a conference-leading average of 10.2 rebounds; Cooper Campbell contributes an average of 13.3 points.
Thomas Dowd is among national leaders in rebounding statistics—ranking eighth nationally for total rebounds (183) and sixteenth for rebounds per game (10.2). He is one of nine players nationwide averaging at least fifteen points and ten rebounds per contest.
Troy holds a historical edge over Arkansas State with a record of nineteen wins to fifteen losses.
Following Saturday’s home fixture against Arkansas State, Troy will travel to Norfolk to face Old Dominion next Wednesday.
“Troy leads the Sun Belt in scoring this season, averaging 86.2 points per game – 32nd nationally – and also ranks first in the conference in scoring margin at +9.9.”
“The Trojans and Red Wolves rank one and two in the Sun Belt, respectively in both the NCAA Net rankings as well as KenPom. Troy is currently ranked 119 on KenPom, its highest rank since Nov. 24.”
“Troy is averaging 18.5 points off turnovers this season, while opponents are scoring 13 points off Trojan turnovers per game. Troy scored 25 points off Southern Miss mishaps on Wednesday.”
“Troy’s 10.5 3-pointers per game ranks 28th in the nation and first in the Sun Belt this season.”
“A multitude of Trojans have led the way offensively this season, with Victor Valdes and Thomas Dowd pacing the scoring output at 15.8 and 15.3 points per game, respectively. Dowd has also added a Sun Belt leading 10.2 rebounds per contest, while Cooper Campbell is Troy’s third leading scorer, averaging 13.3 points.”
