Trojans pick up a road win over Texas State

The defense stepped up late to help propel Troy to a crucial 74-69 win over Texas State on Tuesday night at Strahan Arena. The win guarantees that Troy is no lower than the No. 4 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament and will not play until at least the quarterfinals round.

Troy (19-10, 12-5 SBC) held Texas State (15-15, 8-9 SBC) without a field goal for the final 5:10 of the game. The final nine Bobcats points came at the free throw line. It wasn’t just the final five minutes that the defense stepped up, though, as the Trojans held the Bobcats to 30.4 percent (7-23) from the field in the second half after Texas State shot 50 percent to open the game.

Both teams started slow coming out of the gates, as the Trojans trailed 14-13 at the under-12 media timeout. Troy was struggling to get good looks early, and Texas State went on an 8-3 run to take a 22-16 lead. Troy started to settle in as the half progressed but it was back-and-forth all the way until the buzzer. The Bobcats took a 37-36 into the locker room. Entering Tuesday’s game, Texas State had not lost a home conference game in which it led at halftime this season.

Tayton Conerway had 11 first-half points to lead a Troy offense that shot 40 percent in the half. On the other side, Tylan Pope had 17 points going into the break to help Texas State shoot 50 in the opening 20 minutes.

Troy trailed for over 11 minutes in the first half but opened the second half strong, and took a 40-39 lead on a Conerway three with 18:19 left in the game. From that point on, Troy did not trail the rest of the night and the score was tied just three times.

Texas State’s final field goal of the game came on a Mark Drone layup with 5:10 left in the game to cut Troy’s lead to five.

With Troy leading 67-66 with 1:51 left in the game, it would need to be efficient at the free throw line to come away with the win, and that’s exactly what it was. Troy made six of its final seven free throws to ice the game. The difference in the second half proved to be free throws and rebounds. The Trojans made 17 of its attempts from the line compared to the Bobcats 16. On the glass, Troy outrebounded Texas State 24-15. Randarius Jones and Thomas Dowd each had seven second-half boards.

Myles Rigsby and Conerway each had a big showing in the second half, as Conerway had 13 points and Rigsby had eight. Rigsby was also 8-8 from the line, including burying the game-icing free throws.

Conerway finished the night with a team-high 24 points on 8-19 shooting, while also recording five steals, five rebounds and three assists. Tuesday marks his sixth 20-point performance of the season and his second straight after having 21 against Coastal Carolina on Saturday. He has scored in double-figures in all but one Sun Belt game this season.

The senior guard is just three steals away from setting the single-season program record. The current record is 88 by Bobby Dixon in the 2005-06 season.

Rigsby finished with 15 points and five rebounds.

Dowd led Troy with 10 rebounds and helped the Trojans win the board battle 41-33. Troy had 18 offensive rebounds, while Texas State had 11.

Both teams didn’t shoot the ball well, as the Bobcats finished at 40.8 percent from the field and Troy at 37.9 percent.

Pope had a game-high 25 points for Texas State.