Troy (3-2) is coming off a 2-2 road trip that saw it defeat New Orleans and West Georgia, while falling to No. 18 Arkansas and Oregon. Monday will be Troy’s first game at home since it opened the season with a 10-point win over Toledo in the MAC-SBC Challenge on Nov. 4.
UTSA (1-2) is coming off a loss to Arkansas-Little Rock last Saturday. The Roadrunners lone win this season came against Trinity (TX) in its home opener.
Game Information
The Matchup: UTSA at Troy
When: Monday, Nov. 25 | 7 p.m.
Where: Troy, Ala. | Trojan Arena (5,200)
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Troy Sports Media Network
Live Stats: TroyStats.com
Trojan Turkey Tipoff
For the second consecutive season, Troy is hosting a Mult-Team Event (MTE). Last year, Troy welcomed Sam Houston State and Grambling State for the Trojan Classic. Troy fell to Sam Houston in overtime on Monday, while defeating Grambling State on Friday.
Joining UTSA at Trojan Arena this year is Merrimack, who will play UTSA on Wednesday at 12 p.m., and Troy on Friday at 1 p.m.
The Trojans got a much-needed win on Tuesday night against West Georgia to close out its longest road trip of the season. Over its four road games that spanned 12 days, the Trojans traveled over 8,000 miles, stayed in seven hotels and took two cross-country flights.
Troy got impressive play from Victor Valdes and Jackson Fields in their win over the Wolves. Valdes recorded a season-high 15 points on perfect shooting (5-5) while also dishing out a pair of assists. It was the second-most points that the sophomore has scored in a game in his career. He had 16 on the road against Arkansas State last season in Troy’s nationally televised game.
Fields 15 points tied his career-high which he set in Troy’s season opener against Toledo. The majority of his points came from the charity stripe he made 11 of his 12 free throw attempts. Both his makes and attempts are career-highs for the junior center. A career 66.4 percent free throw shooter, Fields is currently sitting at 86.4 percent from the line. Fields is second on the team this season in scoring with 11.0 points. Myles Rigsby continues to pace the team with 12.0 points and is the only Trojan to score in double figures in all five games this season. He had 11 points in the Tuesday night win against West Georgia and made his first 3-pointer of the year.
Defensively, Troy continues to do well in the steal game. After finishing second in the country last season in steals per game, the Trojans are second in the Sun Belt and tied for 39th nationally with 9.6 steals.
Scouting UTSA
Primo Spears leads the Roadrunners in scoring through three games with 20.7 points. Spears played all 40 minutes in UTSA’s loss to Little Rock last week. Also scoring in double figures for the Roadrunners are Marcus Millender (14.0) and Raekwon Horton (10.5).
Defensively, UTSA is allowing 81.0 points a night, while its opponents are shooting 51.1 percent from the field.
UTSA leads the all-time series 3-1 and has won the last two matchups. The two programs last faced off on Dec. 22, 2011, which saw the Roadrunners win 76-70.
Notables
• Scott Cross is in his sixth season at the helm for Troy men’s basketball, and his 18th as a Division I men’s basketball head coach. While at Troy he has put together an 83-78 record, which includes three straight seasons of 20 or more wins. In each of those three seasons, he has also led the Trojans to 10 or more conference wins.
• After falling to Oregon last Sunday, the Trojans got back in the win column after a 19-point victory against West Georgia on Tuesday night. Troy was fueled by a season-high 15 points from Victor Valdes, who was a perfect 5-5 from the field.
• Myles Rigsby had 11 points in the victory and leads the team this season with 12.0 points per game. He is also the only Trojan to have scored in double-digits in all five games this year.
• Jackson Fields tied his career-high in points against West Georgia with 15. He was 11-12 from the free-throw line, which were both career-highs. He joins Myles Rigsby as the only other Trojan to average double figure points.
• The Trojans opened their home schedule in impressive fashion on Nov. 4, as it defeated Toledo 84-74 in the MAC-SBC Challenge. The Trojans have been especially good at home under Scott Cross, posting a 51-20 record – including 15-2 last season.
• The Trojans are returning 100 total starts from last season from seven different players. Troy also returned 262 total games played between 10 players.
• Troy did not lose or add a single player to the NCAA Transfer Portal. The only non-freshman addition to this year’s team is JUCO transfer Cobi Campbell, who is out indefinitely with an injury.
