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The Troy Trojans (8-4, 1-0) men’s basketball team opened Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday with a 77-57 win over the Georgia State Panthers (4-8, 0-1) to earn the 100th win at Trojan Arena in team history.

The win not only marked Troy’s 100th all-time win at Trojan Arena but it was head coach Scott Cross’ 55th win in the arena. Troy is 100-77 all-time at Trojan Arena, while Cross is 55-22 and 21-3 since the start of last season.

Troy jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the first five minutes of the first half and never looked back. Troy led 39-25 at halftime and outscored the Panthers 38-32 in the second half. Troy shot 43.3 percent from the field and Georgia State shot 40.7 percent. Troy dominated the boards, outrebounding Georgia State 43-29 along with scoring 18 second chance points to just eight for GSU.

Troy also forced 14 turnovers and scored 21 points off those turnovers. While Georgia State managed to force 11 Trojan turnovers, the Panthers could only muster two points off those turnovers. Troy also dished 14 assists as a team.

“Our guys definitely had grit, determination and battle from the start,” Troy Coach Scott Cross said. “We played great defense. It was a very, very convincing win. It started with Myles Rigsby, he got hot early on and it gave us a big lift. Because our guys had such toughness and grit defensively, we were able to win the way we wanted to. I think it sent a statement, that that’s how we want to play all year long.”

Myles Rigsby led Troy with a career-high 22 points along with four rebounds, two steals, one block and two assists. Tayton Conerway tallied 13 points, five assists and three steals, while Marcus Rigsby Jr. totalled 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks. For Georgia State, Jelani Hamilton scored 18 points.

The Trojans will now take a break for Christmas and will return to the court on Jan. 2, 2025, against Appalachian State on the road.