Troy basketball turns back South Alabama, 65-55

Troy carried over a dominant second half vs. South Alabama last weekend into a strong 40-minute effort on Saturday, beating the Jaguars 65-55 at Trojan Arena.

The Trojans (12-7, 5-3 Sun Belt Conference) won at home vs. their in-state rival for the fourth straight year, and temporarily knocked the Jaguars (14-6, 6-2) out of first place in the conference. Arkansas State (16-5, 7-2) is a half-game ahead of South Alabama in the overall standings, with the Jaguars facing a weather-related makeup game at Louisiana-Monroe on Monday.

Troy led nearly throughout on Saturday, overcoming an early 3-2 deficit with a 15-0 run behind some hot 3-point shooting. The Trojans hit eight from beyond the arc in the first half and 12 in the game, and pulled down an astounding 20 offensive rebounds.

“They punked us, man,” South Alabama coach Richie Riley said in his postgame comments on SportsTalk 99.5 FM. “They pushed us around on the glass. They pushed us around on the perimeter. I mean, it was hand-to-hand combat for 40 minutes.

“And we’ve got to respond better to that, because it won’t be the last time we see it. I mean, anytime you play these dudes, that’s what it’s going to be.”

South Alabama cut the deficit to six at halftime and to four at 50-46 in the final six minutes, but Troy had an answer each time. Myles Rigsby made a massive 3-pointer after an offensive rebound with 5:20 to play, then Tayton Conerway hit another with 1:19 left to put the Trojans up 10 and essentially ice the game.

It was a continuation for Troy of the second half from last week’s meeting vs. South Alabama in Mobile, in which the Trojans trailed by 20 at halftime before storming back to take the lead in the final minute. South Alabama’s Barry Dunning made two free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining to give the Jaguars a 65-64 win in that one.

Rigsby — back in the starting lineup Saturday for the first time in two weeks after missing time following an elbow to the head vs. Texas State on Jan. 11 — led the Trojans with 15 points, while Cooper Campbell had 12 (all on 3-pointers) and Jackson Fields added 10 rebounds (5 offensive). Conerway shot just 4-for-17 from the floor, but posted a solid all-around effort with 10 points, nine assists and five steals.

Jayden Cooper led South Alabama with a season-high 17 points off the bench, but was the lone Jaguars player in double-figures. Dunning added nine points and nine rebounds, but South Alabama shot just 27% (6-for-22) on 3-pointers.

“It’s so stressful out there, but also I know things don’t happen if your guys don’t play extremely hard,” Troy coach Scott Cross told the Troy Radio Network. “That’s what I told them before the game, ‘wars are won by the will of men,’ not by weapons or scouting reports or plays or zones or any of that.

“Our guys had that look in their eyes tonight. There were a couple times where the game got a little bit close, but overall, our guys really were locked-in defensively. I mean, what a game defensively. We were able to get 13 more shot attempts, and I think that was the difference in the game.”

Troy attempted 40 3-pointers, but made enough to keep South Alabama at bay. The Trojans out-rebounded the Jaguars 41-35 overall, and made 7 of 10 free throws.

South Alabama was 9-for-15 from the free-throw line, and turned the ball over 15 times. That’s uncharacteristic of a Jaguars team that has been among the best in the country at taking care of the ball, but also speaks to Troy’s physical style both in the second half last Saturday in Mobile and for the entire game on Saturday.

“We got physically manhandled,” Riley said. “I mean, they fouled us every possession. And we’ve got to be tougher than that. Sixty minutes straight of that. And we knew it was coming. We knew those were not going to be called fouls.

“… But it’s not on the refs, it’s on us. We knew what the game was going to be. They let them foul like crazy, and that’s what they do for 40 minutes. And we knew that coming in. We prepared for it. And we didn’t handle it well.”

South Alabama travels to ULM at 6:30 p.m. Monday in game that was originally scheduled for Thursday, but postponed due to dangerous road conditions caused by winter storm Enzo. Troy hosts Southern Miss at 5 p.m. Monday in a game that was also snowed out on Thursday.