Troy hopes to keep rolling on the road

Troy’s three-game win streak will be challenged today by one of the best teams in the Sun Belt and easily the most physical.

Arkansas-Little Rock (14-5, 7-1), which leads the Sun Belt West Division and is tied with Western Kentucky for first place overall in the league, hosts Troy (10-10, 5-3) at 7 p.m. today at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

At 4:30 p.m., the Troy and UALR women’s teams will square off.

UALR, which has won five straight, is coming off a 71-69 win at South Alabama. Troy is in third place in the SBC East.
“They’ve got a very athletic team that is also experienced at winning,” Troy head coach Don Maestri said.

“They’ve got the same group back last year that won, so they’ve won for two years in a row now.”

Maestri expects to see a slow-it-down offense from UALR, but the defense is what the UALR Trojans have made their mark on.
Something will have to give, because the Troy Trojans are an offensive bunch.

“They’re definitely aggressive,” Maestri said. “When you’re cutting through, you’ll get an arm or a forearm on you. They play that kind of way.

“But they’ll have a decision to make, too. Do they play tight and play help defense so the guys off the ball are almost in the lane? If so, that could leave our 3-point shooters open. Or do they play us tight all the way around? It will be interesting to see what they do.”

Troy’s 3-point shooting has been paced by junior guard Brandon Hazzard, who is scoring 14.9 points per game in league play. Point guard Mike Vogler leads the Sun Belt at 5.9 assists per game. Richard Delk is scoring 13.9 points per game. Kenny Ware and Travis Lee are sharpshooters off the bench.

UALR point guard Steven Moore, who hit a lay-up as time expired to beat Troy last year in Troy, leads a balanced attack at 13.6 points per game. Guard Matt Mouzy (11.3 ppg) is behind him.