Troy beats Arkansas State 94-81 to clinch NCAA Tournament spot for the first time since 2017

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Tayton Conerway, the Sun Belt Conference player of the year, scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half, Myles Rigsby added 20 points and No. 3 seed Troy beat fourth-seeded Arkansas State 94-81 on Monday night to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.

Troy (23-10) won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament for just the third time in program history.

Arkansas State (24-10) was in the championship game for the second year in a row, battling for its first NCAA berth since 1999 and second in school history.

Troy trailed 66-58 with 10 minutes to go before going on 24-4 run, sparked by Conerway’s 12 points, to go ahead 82-70 with 2:12 left. It was the first double-digit lead of the game.

The Trojans made seven straight shots at the end of the run, while Arkansas State went 2 of 13 from the field over eight minutes.

Troy shot 65% from the field in the second half, getting 16 points from Rigsby and 11 from Thomas Dowd.

Dowd finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Jackson Fields added 10 points for Troy, which won its sixth straight game.

Dyondre Dominguez led Arkansas State with 19 points and Derrian Ford added 17. Terrance Ford Jr. had 11 points and seven assists, and Kobe Julien and Joseph Pinion each scored 10.

Conerway finished the tournament with 61 points after scoring 18 in quarterfinals against Old Dominion and 22 in semifinals versus No. 2 seed James Madison. He was 8 of 17 from the field against the Red Wolves.