Super Bowl Update

Alan Jones after his dunk vs. WKU/Thomas Graning (AP) photo

Troy's solid play to finish off the season has been sparked by one of its smallest players.

Alan Jones, a sharpshooter at 5-foot-9 (listed at 3 inches taller), who has incredible hops, has found his consistency and helped Troy finish the season with a 10-17 overall record, 5-11 in league play. That's not the ideal record, but Troy's playing much better now than it was 2 months ago, and most of this team returns to open the new Trojan Arena.

Jones hit 7-of-11 shots, 2-of-4 from 3-point range, as Troy beat FAU 83-82 on Saturday. He's scored in double figures in 4 of the past 5 games. In those 4 games, Troy is 3-1 with the 1 loss being an OT loss to the Sun Belt West champion UALR. Jones is averaging 15 points per game in that 5-game stretch to get his scoring average into double digits.

A few games ago, I said Troy needed a good 2-guard to step up, either on his roster or in recruiting, for next year. It's looking like that will be Jones, who can create his own shot and is quick to the rim. He won't get it over the taller guys real close to the basket, but has some nice high arc on his floaters. He had a few games where he missed a lot of shots, but either he's on fire or he's taking better shots. My guess is the latter.

Earlier this year, I was pretty sure Troy wouldn't win the Sun Belt title with so many newcomers and Mo Weathers battling an ankle injury (he's obviously healthy now), but needed to play well at the end to take some momentum into next year, with the new arena, and add a couple of pieces to the puzzle, to be competitive. I can't sit here and say they'll compete for a conference title, as it seems like other teams will still be a little bit more experienced and deeper, but Troy will be better next year and Don Maestri will win his 500th game next year.

Heading into the Sun Belt Tournament, Troy will play South Alabama at some point Saturday, then likely face Denver if the Trojans are able to upset USA. The Jaguars swept the season series, but Troy can play with those guys. It won't be easy.


Looking at Sunday's baseball finale against USM, got to say the Golden Eagles have the momentum because they're at home, but that can be taken away with a big first inning. If Troy can stake whoever the starting pitcher is to a 1 or 2-run early lead, and that pitcher won't have as much pressure to match zeroes. Troy needs to up it offensively (3 runs in 2 games) but the pitching has been outstanding. If the starter is Adam Purdy and he or either Chris Fisher can get it to the fifth, Troy's back end with Nate Hill and Tyson Workman will be rested and ready to close it out.