TROY, Ala. – After struggling early, the Troy men’s basketball team came out better in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to slow down Merrimack who picked up a 72-68 win in Trojan Arena on Friday afternoon to wrap up the Trojan Turkey Tipoff.
Troy (4-3) struggled shooting the ball all afternoon, as it finished the game with a 45.8 percent shooting clip and was just 5-19 (26.3 percent) from 3-point range. On the other side of the court, Merrimack (2-6) couldn’t miss from the field as it shot 55.1 percent, including 56 percent from distance.
The Warriors jumped ahead big on the Trojans in the first half, as they took an 11-point lead into the break. Merrimack shot a blistering 61.5 percent (16-26) from the field and knocked down 10-15 three-pointers (66.7 percent). The Warriors led by as much as 13 in the first half. Devon Savage was 5-6 from distance in the first half to record 15 of his 23 points.
Coming out of the break, Troy exploded on a 12-0 run to take a 44-43 lead. The advantage, however, didn’t last long as Merrimack responded to re-take the lead. The two teams went back and for the remainder of the half. With the score tied 63-63 with 3:30 left in the game, Savage hit a big three to take the lead. Troy never got closer than one point the rest of the way.
Myles Rigsby had a team-high 15 points for Troy, while Tayton Conerway had 13 and Jackson Fields had 10. The Trojans shot a dismal 63.3 percent (19-30) from the free-throw line.
On defense, Troy had 12 steals. Conerway had six of his own, tying his career-high which he set at Louisiana last season. Both teams turned it over 14 times.
The Trojans outrebounded Merrimack 32-24, with Thomas Dowd having a team-high eight rebounds.
The Warriors were led by Savage’s 23 points, while Adam Clark had 20.
Quotable – head coach Scott Cross
“Defensively we weren’t engaged like we normally are. We gave up way too many 3-pointers. Credit to Merrimack, they shot the ball extremely well. But we have to be able to affect that with our defensive effort. We’ve got to able to change that and not let that happen…We have to be better defensively. I thought we played well enough on offense. We attacked the zone pretty well. We were able to get to the free-throw. We didn’t shoot the three as well as I would have liked. That’s the one outlier, probably, offensively where we needed to be better. We’re not a team that is going to out-offense teams to win games, we have to be great defensively.”
Up Next
The Trojans wrap up their three-game homestand on Sunday as they host Eastern Kentucky for a 2 p.m. tipoff in Trojan Arena.
Notables
• Myles Rigsby finished with a team-high 15 points. Rigsby is the only player on Troy to have double-digit points in every game this season. He has scored 10 or more points in 23 of 38 games he’s appeared in since the start of last season.
• Also scoring in double-figures was Tayton Conerway (15) and Jackson Fields (10).
• Tayton Conerway had six steals in the loss, tying his career-high which he set at Louisiana last season. Troy finished the night with 12 steals.
• Troy finished the Trojan Turkey Tipoff 1-1 with a win over UTSA on Monday. UTSA was 1-1, while Merrimack was also 1-1.
• The Trojans move to 51-22 at home under Scott Cross.
• Troy moves to 1-1 all-time against Merrimack. The only other meeting came on Nov. 17, 2022, which was a 73-54 win in the Zootown Classic in Missoula, Mont.
Troy (4-3) struggled shooting the ball all afternoon, as it finished the game with a 45.8 percent shooting clip and was just 5-19 (26.3 percent) from 3-point range. On the other side of the court, Merrimack (2-6) couldn’t miss from the field as it shot 55.1 percent, including 56 percent from distance.
The Warriors jumped ahead big on the Trojans in the first half, as they took an 11-point lead into the break. Merrimack shot a blistering 61.5 percent (16-26) from the field and knocked down 10-15 three-pointers (66.7 percent). The Warriors led by as much as 13 in the first half. Devon Savage was 5-6 from distance in the first half to record 15 of his 23 points.
Coming out of the break, Troy exploded on a 12-0 run to take a 44-43 lead. The advantage, however, didn’t last long as Merrimack responded to re-take the lead. The two teams went back and for the remainder of the half. With the score tied 63-63 with 3:30 left in the game, Savage hit a big three to take the lead. Troy never got closer than one point the rest of the way.
Myles Rigsby had a team-high 15 points for Troy, while Tayton Conerway had 13 and Jackson Fields had 10. The Trojans shot a dismal 63.3 percent (19-30) from the free-throw line.
On defense, Troy had 12 steals. Conerway had six of his own, tying his career-high which he set at Louisiana last season. Both teams turned it over 14 times.
The Trojans outrebounded Merrimack 32-24, with Thomas Dowd having a team-high eight rebounds.
The Warriors were led by Savage’s 23 points, while Adam Clark had 20.
Quotable – head coach Scott Cross
“Defensively we weren’t engaged like we normally are. We gave up way too many 3-pointers. Credit to Merrimack, they shot the ball extremely well. But we have to be able to affect that with our defensive effort. We’ve got to able to change that and not let that happen…We have to be better defensively. I thought we played well enough on offense. We attacked the zone pretty well. We were able to get to the free-throw. We didn’t shoot the three as well as I would have liked. That’s the one outlier, probably, offensively where we needed to be better. We’re not a team that is going to out-offense teams to win games, we have to be great defensively.”
Up Next
The Trojans wrap up their three-game homestand on Sunday as they host Eastern Kentucky for a 2 p.m. tipoff in Trojan Arena.
Notables
• Myles Rigsby finished with a team-high 15 points. Rigsby is the only player on Troy to have double-digit points in every game this season. He has scored 10 or more points in 23 of 38 games he’s appeared in since the start of last season.
• Also scoring in double-figures was Tayton Conerway (15) and Jackson Fields (10).
• Tayton Conerway had six steals in the loss, tying his career-high which he set at Louisiana last season. Troy finished the night with 12 steals.
• Troy finished the Trojan Turkey Tipoff 1-1 with a win over UTSA on Monday. UTSA was 1-1, while Merrimack was also 1-1.
• The Trojans move to 51-22 at home under Scott Cross.
• Troy moves to 1-1 all-time against Merrimack. The only other meeting came on Nov. 17, 2022, which was a 73-54 win in the Zootown Classic in Missoula, Mont.
