When Troy visited Boca Raton and Miami, Fla., late last season as part of the team’s annual south Florida swing, the Trojans were struggling with a 3-11 record in the Sun Belt Conference with the conference tournament a week away.

Troy knocked off Florida International in overtime then, two days later, edged Florida Atlantic, 83-82.

The Trojans will look to rekindle that magic in 2013 as the team heads south to face Florida Atlantic on Thursday and Florida International on Saturday.

Troy (7-10) is currently 2-4 in conference play and winners of its last two. A pair of victories on the road could jump start a slumping offense.

Coincidently, the recent success coincided with a tweak to the starting lineup.

Head coach Don Maestri implanted R.J. Scott, Josh Warren and Westley Hinton into the starting five in place of Antoine Myers, Emil Jones and Deonata Jethroe in an attempt to add more height on the court.

Wins early will be needed as the Trojans face a tough league schedule down the stretch.

Home-and-home tilts with Arkansas State (10-7), Louisiana-Lafayette (7-12), South Alabama (8-8) and East Division-leading Middle Tennessee State (14-4) await.

Troy has a chance to hand Maestri his 500th career victory as the Trojans head coach. Maestri currently sits at 495 wins with 14 regular season games yet to play.