Troy faces South Alabama following Dowd’s 22-point performance

By Canadian Press on January 2, 2026.

South Alabama Jaguars (11-4, 2-1 Sun Belt) at Troy Trojans (9-5, 2-0 Sun Belt)

Troy, Alabama; Saturday, 4:33 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Troy hosts South Alabama after Thomas Dowd scored 22 points in Troy’s 100-80 win against the Texas State Bobcats.

The Trojans have gone 4-1 in home games. Troy is second in the Sun Belt with 16.7 assists per game led by Cooper Campbell averaging 5.0.

The Jaguars are 2-1 in Sun Belt play. South Alabama ranks sixth in the Sun Belt shooting 33.3% from 3-point range.

Troy makes 46.2% of its shots from the field this season, which is 8.2 percentage points higher than South Alabama has allowed to its opponents (38.0%). South Alabama has shot at a 47.0% clip from the field this season, 3.5 percentage points greater than the 43.5% shooting opponents of Troy have averaged.

The Trojans and Jaguars meet Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Victor Valdes is averaging 17.2 points, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals for the Trojans. Dowd is averaging 16.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals over the last 10 games.

Adam Olsen is averaging 17 points for the Jaguars. Jayden Cooper is averaging 1.2 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Trojans: 6-4, averaging 88.7 points, 37.6 rebounds, 16.1 assists, 8.8 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 81.5 points per game.

Jaguars: 6-4, averaging 73.3 points, 30.8 rebounds, 10.4 assists, 8.3 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 46.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press