Basketball final: South Alabama 84, Troy 73

December 20, 2007

Drew Champlin

EDIT - Here is the game story from the Mobile Press-Register.

Well, dang, if Troy hits another three then I’ve got the score predicted accurately (see below).

Troy was up by one at the half. What obviously hurt Troy the most was the rebounding advantage, where South Alabama had a 58-32 advantage. There was one possession where the Trojans forced a last-second shot clock long 3-pointer, but allowed USA to get the rebound.

But listening to Jerry and Barry, it sounds like the Trojans hurt themselves on a couple of possessions. While O’Darien Bassett and Justin Jonus were carrying the team, the Trojans had a long offensive possession but sophomore Tracye Macon fired up some wild shot. This was with 5:30 left and Troy down one. USA got the rebound and hit a three.

Troy’s Bassett hit a three with 3:30 left to cut the lead to 76-71, but after a timeout, Macon and Jarvis Acker had a defensive breakdown on the press where they allowed a USA player to get past them for a long pass and dunk. One thought the other was supposed to cover it.

I look for South Alabama, Western Kentucky or North Texas to win the Sun Belt title. Who’s next for Troy? WKU (Dec. 29) and UNT (Jan. 3) at home. I don’t guess the students will be back for either but a good crowd makes Trojan Arena a tough place to play.

Bassett led Troy with 25 points. Jonus and Macon each scored 12. Demetric Bennett scored 26 for the Jaguars. Domonic Tilford added 18 points and DeAndre Coleman had 10 points with 18 rebounds.

I was not at the game in Mobile, but the Press-Register covered it and I’ll link it on here tomorrow. My boss would have covered it on the way to New Orleans to join me in covering the bowl, had Troy beaten FAU. Troy basketball coach Don Maestri told me earlier this week that a bunch of Troy fans had planned on stopping by the game on the way down there, but it didn’t happen.

Thursday links

Drew Champlin

From me, football-wise, here’s a brief notebook. Basketball-wise, here’s my basketball preview.

From the Mobile Press-Register, look at basketball from a South Alabama angle, starting with the men hosting Troy and last night with the women beating Troy.

Hoops look: Troy at South Alabama

December 19, 2007

Drew Champlin

What: Troy (6-4) at South Alabama (7-3)
When: 7 p.m. CST Dec. 21
Where: Mitchell Center (10,000), Mobile
Last time out: Troy beat Jacksonville 98-80 at home. South Alabama beat Mississippi State 71-67 at home.

Probable starting lineups
TROY
G-Jerome Odem (6’1, 160, Sr.) - 6.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 51.5 3pt%
G-O’Darien Bassett (6’2, 190, Sr.) - 16.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.9 apg
F-Justin Jonus (6’6, 221, Sr.) - 14.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg
F-Trayce Macon (6’8, 191, Soph.) - 7.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg
F-Jarvis Acker (6’6, 210, Sr.) - 6.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg

SOUTH ALABAMA
G-Daon Merritt (5’8, 193, Sr.) 13.0 ppg
G-BJ Ford (6’0, 165, Jr.) 4.2 ppg
G-Demetric Bennett(6’4, 205, Sr.) 20.2 ppg
F-Brandon Davis(6’6, 205, Jr.) 9.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg
F-DeAndre Coleman (6’7, 233, Jr.) 6.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg

What to watch for: It’s the Sun Belt opener for both teams. Troy has won 5 straight for the first time since winning 14 straight in the 2003-04 season. The Trojans closed Sun Belt play last year with a come-from-behind overtime win when Justin Jonus hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to force overtime. South Alabama has been very impressive thus far, losing to unbeaten Ole Miss and Vanderbilt on the road by just three points each. Guard Demetric Bennett scorched the nets in a win over Mississippi State, going for 39 points and earning several national weekly honors.

Player to watch, Troy: Brandon Hazzard. The 6-foot-2 sophomore had yet another career game with 27 points Monday against Jacksonville. Can he continue it when it counts the most?

Player to watch, USA: Domonic Tilford. The 5-foot-10 sophomore is averaging 14 ppg off the bench.

Troy will win if: The Trojans need to hit at least five more 3-pointers than South Alabama, win the turnover battle and not get too manhandled on the boards.

USA will win if: It attacks the Troy press instead of reacting and setting up its offense, giving Troy’s defense a chance to get back.

Drew’s prediction: Too much experienced talent wins out at home. South Alabama 84, Troy 76

Some football news

Drew Champlin

Spoke with Troy head coach Larry Blakeney just now. Recruiting isn’t picking up today like we all thought, but he’s hoping to add a mid-term enrollee today. He didn’t mention names and I don’t know that he can until the guys signs (nor do I know the recruit), but it could get released by the sports information department today.

“We’re still working on it. We haven’t gotten anybody yet. We lost a nose tackle to Louisville and a quarterback to Auburn,” Blakeney said.

The quarterback, as you know, is Chris Todd. No sense in rehashing the story there. A name wasn’t mentioned in regards to the nose tackle, but I went to the Louisville rivals.com site and deducted that it is Tyler Jessen from Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kan. That link shows an offer from Troy and if you go here, you’ll see that he visited Troy. That may be premium content, but you can see if it comes up. If you go to louisville.rivals.com and clink on a link that shows their December enrollees, Jessen is the only defensive lineman.

Troy signed five players in 2007 that grayshirted - wide receiver Richie Henderson, offensive lineman Jacob Creech, defensive lineman Brandon Boudreaux, and cornerbacks KeJuan Phillips and Stacey Williams. Assuming all are qualified, all but Henderson should enroll in January. Henderson has decided not to play college football.

Blakeney said everyone is on target to return next spring except for reserve defensive lineman Jeremy Jenkins. Jenkins isn’t academically eligible and his best option is to transfer to a junior college, Blakeney said.

There’s always players that could go home over Christmas and decide to transfer out, so keep that in mind. But Blakeney feels that everyone else will be back.

“He’s a conditional admittance, and he didn’t live up to the standard of conditional admittance,” Blakeney said.

On the offensive coordinator position, Blakeney will likely wait until after Christmas and possibly the new year to announce it.

“I don’t know. I’ve got some ideas. We’re probably going to try to promote from within and hire the best position coach available,” he said.

If a recruit signs today and I catch wind of it, I’ll let you know.

Did you know?

Drew Champlin

Troy sophomore point guard Michael Vogler comes off the bench, but he’s the current Sun Belt leader in three categories.

Assists per game - 5.2
Steals per game - 2.6
3-point percentage - 68.8

Troy (6-4) opens Sun Belt play at South Alabama (7-3) Thursday at 7 p.m.