Troy Takes Down Southern Miss to Advance to Finals

Zac Capps March 9, 2026 3 minutes read

Troy took down Southern Miss 78-70 to advance to the finals. Southern Miss played its fourth game in four days, making a run from the No. 8 seed.

The Trojans were led by center Jerrell Bellamy, who has grown into an important role following the injury of Theo Seng. Bellamy finished with 22 points and six blocks, shooting 9-for-14 from the field. Sophomore point guard Cooper Campbell finished with the second-most points on the team with 14.

Both teams came out of the gate firing, going back and forth with neither team pulling away. About halfway through the first half, the Trojans went up by five and never looked back. For the rest of the first 20 minutes, Troy pulled away and got the lead as high as 13 points, eventually taking a 41-28 lead into the break.

One half down.#TakeTheStairs | #OneTROY ⚔️🏀 pic.twitter.com/PZbfy2t81d

— Troy Trojans MBB (@TroyTrojansMBB) March 8, 2026

Bellamy finished with 16 of his 22 points in the first half, shooting 75% from the field. Six of the other seven players who saw the court got onto the scoresheet through 20 minutes. For Southern Miss, Issac Tavares put the team on his back, scoring 15 of its 28 points. Leading scorer Tylik Weeks only made two shots in the first half and collected three fouls. Both teams really struggled from deep, each hitting one three. The difference was made at the line, with the Trojans hitting 12 free throws.

Much of the second half was the same, with the Trojans leading by roughly 15 points for much of the half. However, with three minutes remaining, the Golden Eagles made their final run at the Trojan lead.

After a Djahi Binet layup with 36 seconds left, Southern Miss cut the lead to five. After a few layups and quick buckets, the lead stayed around five or six, but a layup from Tavares made the lead four with 10 seconds remaining. That was the closest Southern Miss got, as Troy came away with a 78-70 victory.

𝐎𝐊𝐆 🗣️

Our kind of guys. #TakeTheStairs | #OneTROY ⚔️🏀 pic.twitter.com/orRu3U5JhT

— Troy Trojans MBB (@TroyTrojansMBB) March 9, 2026

All-conference member Thomas Dowd struggled for Troy, making only one shot. Dowd still found his way to the line 12 times and finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. The other all-conference honoree, Victor Valdes, also struggled but still finished with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists. Troy only made three three-pointers and shot worse than Southern Miss from the field, but 31 made free throws pushed the Trojans over the line.

For Southern Miss, Tavares finished with 32 points and nine rebounds, missing only four shots. Weeks, who was having an unbelievable tournament, finished with 15 points on 18 shot attempts. The Golden Eagles went 2-for-19 from the three-point line, which was the norm for them this season. They had 21 second-chance points, but allowing 20 fast-break points and sending Troy to the line 38 times sealed their fate on the season.

The Trojans look to defend their conference championship and return to March Madness in the championship game against another Cinderella run, with No. 10 seed Georgia Southern looking to win its sixth game in as many days.