The Sun Belt conference tournament is always a lot of fun and usually brings a lot of chaos, but this year, the conference tournament was very chalky and saw two of the four regular-season conference winners meeting in the conference title game. The Troy Trojans got the 7th automatic bid into the NCAA tournament after beating the Arkansas State Red Wolves in the finals of the Sun Belt tournament.
Troy is making their third overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and it is the first appearance for the Trojans since the 2016-2017 season. The Trojans won a share of the Sun Belt regular season title with three other teams. It was the second season in a row that Troy finished 13-5 in the league. They head to the NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 23-10. The Trojans are going to be a dangerous team when it comes time for the ball to tip, and they do have a team that can win multiple games in the dance.
Bracket Matrix has the Trojans listed as a 14 seed, and to be honest, that feels like they are going to be a little bit underseeded. Even if they get a 14 seed, there is going to be a 3 seed in this tournament who is going to be very upset to see Troy opposite them in the bracket. I am high on the Trojans and do think they can be that 14 seed who can make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Here are the reasons why Troy can win a game.
Tayton Conerway
The Sun Belt Player of the Year is a very unique player because he isn’t like other elite scorers in the game today. Conerway is an elite scorer, but he is not a shooter. He shoots well under 30% from deep, just like the rest of the Trojans, but he gets to the rim, and that almost always results in points. The point guard averages five assists and five rebounds and is one of the nation's leaders in steals with 3 per game. In the conference championship game the star guard took the game over in the last 10 minutes of the game and willed the Trojans to a victory. He was getting to the rim, hitting floaters, and getting steals. His assists usually come when teams commit to him driving in the paint, and he passes it to the waiting big man or the trailing driver. Conerway has a knack for breaking down defenses and getting the basket. If Conerway can dominate, the Trojans will have a great chance of winning.
Defense
Troy is one of the worst shooting teams in the nation, and in this day and age, that is usually hard to overcome. Well, Troy is able to overcome their lack of shooting by playing fantastic defense. Defense is what head coach Scott Cross wants his team to focus on, and that message has been received this year. Troy is in the top 50 in the country in the following categories: Defensive field goal percentage, points allowed, blocks, steals, rebounding, and total field goals made. The Trojans will get after you on defense and use their steals to get out in transition for easy baskets. Smothering defense and forcing turnovers is how you overcome bad shooting. Their defensive ability is another reason that Troy is one of most unique teams in the tournament.
Chemistry
If you have watched college basketball this season you know how important chemistry can be to the success of a team. Chemistry is something that Troy seems to have a lot of and it does lead them to a lot of wins because they trust each other to make the right play and be where they are supposed to be. The Trojans neve quit playing even down double digits as they were in the Sun Belt championship game the team never got shaken and they just kept grinding and finding a way to score until they eventually took the lead. The biggest takeaway here for Troy is they all expect each other to do the right thing and make the right play. Those things lead to winning and the team won’t ever hang their head and quit. That is why many say Troy is pesky and will be a trendy pick to pull an upset.
Troy is going to be a trendy pick to win a game because they are built to upset a top seed with their defensive pressure and they have one of the best players on the floor every night. Troy believes in themselves with the chemistry this team has built that they won’t waiver on the game plan or how they play. Those things make Troy a scary team in the NCAA tournament.