It was a tough time for Troy to have to take on the toughest team in the Sun Belt. The Trojans desperately need conference wins to bolster their place in the standings.

Troy fell to Middle Tennessee State, 71-58, on Thursday to drop them to 2-6 in league play. The Trojans turned the ball over a season-high 19 times against the Blue Raiders. They did fight back to stay in the game a couple of time but the fact is that MTSU is just GOOD, no way around it.

MTSU has a rock solid defense. Maestri had a classic quote after the game in his interview with play-by-play man Barry McKnight saying “No one is going to guard us any tougher… unless it’s an octopus. They had arms going everywhere.”

Point guard Will Weathers had a decent game. He scored 22 points but did have four turnovers and finished with just two assists.

Steven Cunningham fouled out. Tim Owens and Ray Chambers each had three fouls early in the second half which could have forced them to play a little more guarded than usual. Obviously, I wasn’t at the game and haven’t talked to head coach Don Maestri yet, but from the parts of the game I listened to and looking at the stats it seemed all three big men being in foul trouble made for some unwanted adjustments. Like MTSU isn’t enough to handle on their own much less having to worry about hearing another whistle blow against you.

Troy has eight more conference games including a rematch with Western Kentucky (Feb. 11) who they defeated on Jan. 7. The team seems so close to being a team that can compete in the league but either poor shooting or turnovers (or both) has plagued them all year.

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On a football note, National Signing Day is right around the corner (Feb. 1). While Troy has just a few scholarships left available, a couple of commits are still out visiting other schools like WR Cody Core who will visit Ole Miss this weekend.

Offensively, Troy is looking to the future by going after mostly high school guys. After all, they have several guys that started last year with two or three more years of eligibility remaining.

Defensively, the Trojans have done a decent job of meeting their needs… linebackers, defensive ends, etc.

Overall, I think (and so do the coaches) this class is a very good one though it may take a couple of years for them to cycle through.