2014-15 TROY MEN’S BASKETBALL SID CONTACT: Kylie Murphy (C): (732) 513-3087 l (W): (334) 670-5654 l E-mail: [email protected] l @kylienmurphy OPENING TIP Date: January 17, 2015 GAME 15 TROY GEORGIA SOUTHERN Tipoff: 7 p.m. TROJANS - VS - EAGLES Location: Troy, Alabama 6-8, 1-4 Arena: Trojan Arena (5,200) 11-3,4-1 Series: 4-7 Head Coach: Phil Cunningham Stat Leaders: Head Coach: Mark Byington Stat Leaders: Last Meeting: L, 94-102 on Dec. 9, 1991 Record at Troy: 17-28 (2) Points: Abdul-Aleem, 15.8 Record at school: 26-22 (2) Points: Hewitt, 20.0 Radio: Troy Sports Radio Network Career Record: same Rebounds: Thomas, 7.1 Career Record: 33-26 (3) Rebounds: Wiedeman, 6.6 Talent: Barry McKnight, Jerry Miller SID: Kylie Murphy Assists: Bilbo, 3.1 SID: A.J. Assists: Hewitt, 3.8 Live Stats: TroyTrojans.com Blocks: Thomas, 1.2 Blocks: Wiedeman, 0.9 Live Video: TroyTrojans.com/watch Steals: Ford, 2.1 Steals: Hewitt, 2.6 Live Audio: TroyTrojans.com/watch TIP OFF » Troy (6-8, 1-4) is coming off a hard fought loss at ULM on Thursday night. The Trojans clawed back from a 10-point deficit to take a late lead over ULM, but was unable to hold on as the Trojans fell to the Warhawks, 63-54. 2014-15 SCHEDULE » Freshman Wesley Person led Troy in scoring for the sixth time this season as he tallied 13 points, his 12th game in double figures. DATE OPP. TIME/RESULTS Person, who leads all NCAA freshmen with 2.9 3-pointers per game, shot 3-of-5 from downtown against the Warhawks. N. 6 + West Florida W, 72-63 N. 14 Brewton-Parker W, 85-71 » Kevin Thomas and Kelton Ford chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively. Ford finished the night 4-of-9 from the floor while N. 17 Ole Miss L, 64-74 Thomas reeled in a team-high seven rebounds, including five offensive boards. Chris Bilbo also tallied eight points on the night, N. 21 at Georgia (SECN+) L, 60-82 including a career-high six assists. N. 25 at Southern Miss L, 70-72 » The Trojans shot 50 percent (8-of-16) from downtown against ULM, who leads the conference in 3-point field goal defense and ranks 15th in the nation. Troy held ULM to 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from downtown. D. 2 Alcorn State W, 72-51 D. 6 Central Arkansas W, 85-73 » Georgia Southern (11-3, 4-1) comes to Trojan Arena after handing UL Lafayette its first conference loss of the season, 78-70, on D. 11 ! vs. Fort Valley State W, 80-63 Thursday night. With the win, the Eagles grabbed a share of first place in the Sun Belt. Mike Hughes led four Eagles in double figures with 18 points. D. 15 at Austin Peay L, 70-73 D. 21 at Nicholls State W, 65-64 » Jelani Hewitt, the Eagles’ leading scorer, ranks third in the Sun Belt averaging 20.0 points per contest. He also leads the D. 30 * Texas State L, 46-57 conference in free throw percentage (.902), and steals per game (2.6). Hewitt also ranks just above Person in 3-pointers made per game, as he leads the conference averaging 3.0 treys. J. 3 * at UL Lafayette L,64-91 J. 5 * UT Arlington W, 71-66 PROBABLE STARTERS * BASED ON PREVIOUS GAME J. 10 * at Georgia State L, 72-77 Troy Ht. Wt Yr Hometown PPG RPG MPG J. 15 * at ULM L, 54-63 G - #4 Kelton Ford 6-0 195 So. Horse Cave, Ky. 7.4 2.2 24.6 J. 17 * Georgia Southern 4:15 p.m. G - #3 Wesley Person 6-3 180 Fr. Brantley, Ala. 15.6 2.9 33.9 J. 19 * Appalachian State 7:30 p.m. G - #10 Chris Bilbo 6-2 172 Jr. Jackson, Miss. 8.9 3.6 35.0 J. 22 * at UALR 7:30 p.m. F - #21 John Walton 6-7 220 Jr. Memphis, Tenn. 7.4 5.4 27.6 J. 24 * Arkansas State 4:15 p.m. F - #25 Kevin Thomas 6-8 215 Sr. Ajax, Ontario 9.4 7.1 30.9 J. 29 * ULM (ESPN3) 7:30 p.m. KEY RESERVES J. 31 * at UT Arlington 7:15 p.m. Troy Height Weight Year Hometown PPG RPG MPG G - #1 Musa Abdul-Aleem 6-5 220 Sr. Atlanta, Ga. 15.8 3.8 25.4 F. 5 * at Arkansas State 7: 30 p.m. F- #33 Aaron Ariri 6-8 225 R-Fr. Brampton, Ontario 1.4 2.9 11.1 F. 7 * at Appalachian State 2:30 p.m. G/F- #5 Christian Harrison 6-5 180 Fr. Atlanta, Ga. 0.8 1.6 5.3 F. 12 * South Alabama 7:30 p.m. F. 14 * UL Lafayette 4:15 p.m. F. 19 * at Georgia Southern 6:30 p.m. TROY NOTABLES F. 21 * UALR 4:15 p.m. • Troy is in its 65th season of basketball. The Trojans are led by second-year head coach Phil Cunningham. F. 26 * at Texas State 7:30 p.m. • The Trojans own a 1,001-813 (.553) overall record. Troy has been a member of the Sun Belt Conference for F. 28 * Georgia State 4:15 p.m. nine years with a 74-101 record. • Wesley Person currently ranks 33rd in the nation in 3-point field goals made per game. Amongst M. 7 * at South Alabama 4:05 p.m. freshman, Person ranks first in the NCAA, averaging 2.93 treys per game. M. 12-15 $ SBC Championships TBA • Musa Abdul-Aleem, the Trojans’ leading scorer, tallied 33 points in Troy’s 77-72 loss at Georgia State. In his career-night, Abdul-Aleem shot 7-of-11 from beyond the arc. His seven trey’s are the most since Regis Huddleston made eight against Western Michigan on 12/21/10. He saw limited minutes in Troy’s loss at All times are Central l + indicates exhibition ULM, as he is battling injury. SECN+ - SEC Network Plus • In conference play, Person and Abdul-Aleem rank second and sixth, respectively, in points per game. * Sun Belt Game Person is currently averaging 19.0 and Abdul-Aleem is averaging 16.0. Person also ranks first in 3-pointers ! at Civic Center l $ in New Orleans, La. per game (3.6) and in 3-poing FG percentage, as he is shooting 51.4 percent from downtown. Abdul-Aleem tallies a conference high in free throw percentage, as he is 17-of-17 from the charity stripe throughout conference play. @TroyAthletics @TroyAthletics Troy Athletics Troy Athletics #ITS TIME .com @TroyMensHoops @TroyHoops T 2014-15 TROY MEN’S BASKETBALL Left to Right: Top row: Colin Edwards, Kevin Thomas, John Walton III, Jaro Moravek, Aaron Ariri, Damion Ottman, Musa Abdul Aleem and Oskar Reinfelds. Bottom row: Jeremy Hollimon, Kelton Ford, Wesley Person, Christian Harrison, Jordan Howard, Jordan Anderson, Chris Bilbo ▶ QUICK FACTS THE BASICS ROSTER Location: Troy, Ala. # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr.-Exp. Hometown (Previous School) Founded: 1887 Conference: Sun Belt 1 Musa Abdul-Aleem G 6-5 220 Sr.-TR Atlanta, Ga. (South Florida) Affiliation: NCAA Division I 2 Jeremy Hollimon G 6-1 175 Jr.-JC Gulfport, Miss. (Peral River CC) Enrollment: 29,689 3 Wesley Person G 6-3 180 Fr.-HS Brantley, Ala. (Brantley HS) Colors: Cardinal, Silver and Black 4 Kelton Ford G 6-0 180 So.-1L Horse Cave, Ky. (LaRue Co. HS) Nickname: Trojans 5 Christian Harrison G/F 6-5 180 Fr.-HS Atlanta, Ga. (Woodward Academy) COURT FACTS: Trojan Arena 10 Chris Bilbo G 6-2 175 Jr.-JC Jackson, Miss. (Mississippi Gulf Coast CC) Opened 2012-13 11 Jordan Anderson G 6-3 185 Fr.- HS Dothan, Ala. (Northside Methodist Academy) Capacity: 5,200 12 Colin Edwards F 6-5 190 Fr.-HS Rainbow City, Ala. (Westbrook Christian School) Record at arena: 16-13 14 Jaro Moravek F/C 6-8 232 So.-SQ Handlova, Slovakia (Levice) Largest Crowd: 5,120 vs. Mississippi State (11/9/12) 15 Oskar Reinfelds G 6-4 195 Jr.-JC Riga, Latvia (Pensacola State) MEDIA INFORMATION 21 John Walton III F 6-7 220 R-Jr.-TR Memphis, Tenn. (East Tennessee State) ▶ 25 Kevin Thomas F 6-8 215 Sr.-1L Ajax, Ontario, Canada (Palm Beach CC) CREDENTIALS 30 Jordan Howard G 5-11 180 So.-1L Monroeville, Ala. (Monroe Co. HS) All requests for working media, radio, television or photo credentials should be made in writing by sports editors or 32 Damion Ottman F 6-8 205 Fr.-HS Macon, Ga. (Westside HS) sports directors of accredited media outlets to men’s basketball 33 Aaron Ariri F/C 6-9 225 R-Fr.-TR Brampton, Ontario, Canada (PHASE1 Academy) contact Kylie Murphy. All requests should be made as early as possible and should be limited to working media only. Requests made within 24 hours of the game may not be considered. All credential requests should be sent via e-mail to Kylie Murphy, Troy men’s basketball contact, at [email protected]. Credentials can be picked up prior to game day in the media STAFF relations offices, and will be available for day-of-game pickup at Head Coach Phil Cunningham (2) the will call window at the main entrance to Trojan Arena. Assistant Coach Marcus Grant (2) POSTGAME INTERVIEWS Assistant Coach Ben Fletcher (10) Troy University is committed to a policy of equal access for Assistant Coach Billy Begley (2) both male and female reporters and photographers, therefore, the Troy locker room is closed to the media.