Both the Troy Trojans men’s and women’s basketball teams are headed to Pensacola, Fla., to compete in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament this weekend.

Both the men’s and women’s teams earned byes all the way to the quarterfinals of the tournament on Saturday. 

The men’s team finished the season with an overall 20-10 record and 11-4 record in the conference, winning co-conference champion along with South Alabama, Arkansas State and James Madison. While Troy finished tied for first in the conference, tiebreakers dropped Troy down to the third seed in the tournament. 

The three seed means Troy will get the benefit of not having to play until the conference quarterfinals on March 8 at the Pensacola Bay Center. One drawback for this new tournament format is that Troy won’t find out its opponent until late Friday night. The Trojans will play the winner Appalachian State vs. Old Dominion. 

The Trojans did not play either Old Dominion or Appalachian State during the regular season. Troy boasts the conference Player of the Year in senior Tayton Conerway, however. Conerway finished the season averaging 13.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Conerway’s 91 steals breaks a Troy single season record and his 157 career steals also ranks fourth in school history. 

Conerway is eighth in the Sun Belt in field goal percentage, third in assists and first in steals. In fact, his 91 steals are 33 more than the No. 2 position. His 91 steals are third in the entire country, as well. 

Troy comes into the tournament ranked seventh in scoring and third in scoring defense, while the Trojans are seventh in field goal percentage and fourth in opponent field goal percentage. Troy also ranks second in team rebounds and first in opponent rebounds. No other team in the Sun Belt has given up less than 1,000 rebounds to opponents. Troy also ranks fifth in turnover margin and 11th in assist/turnover ratio. Troy is sixth in assists, second in blocked shots and first in steals. 

The women’s team also comes into the tournament as the three seed after finishing the regular season with a 19-12 record and 13-5 conference record. Troy will play the winner of Appalachian State vs. Marshall in the quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. 

Troy’s Zay Dyer finished the season with All-Sun Belt honors after averaging 13.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. She’s also tallied 29 blocks and 22 steals on the season. The junior’s 14 double-doubles leads the Sun Belt and she also leads the Sun Belt in rebounding. Her 325 total rebounds ranks fourth in Troy single season history. 

Troy’s Fortuna Ngnawo also ranks eighth in the conference in rebounding, while Dyer’s .445 percent field goal shooting ranks fourth. Shaulaana Wagner’s 152 assists and 6.6 assists per game leads the conference, while Brianna Jackson’s 48 blocks is second in the Sun Belt. Ashley Baez’s 55 steals also ranks ninth in the conference. 

Troy’s offense comes into the tournament first in scoring, while the Trojan defense ranks 13th in scoring. Troy also sits at fourth in field goal percentage and second in opponent field goal percentage. The Trojans have dominated the boards, leading the Sun Belt by a wide margin and also leading the entire country in rebounding. Troy sits at 11th in the Sun Belt in turnovers and third in assist/turnover ratio. Troy also leads the conference in assists and is second in blocked shots. 

The Troy men’s team hasn’t won a Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship since the 2016-2017 season. That was also the last time the Trojans made the NCAA Tournament. The men’s team has earned just two NCAA Tournament appearances since moving to Division I. 

The women’s team hasn’t captured a tournament crown since 2021, which was also the last time the women made the NCAA Tournament. Last season, the Trojan women made it all the way to the Fab 4 of the WNIT Tournament, however. 

The Troy women will play at 2:30 p.m. on March 8 in the Sun Belt Conference Quarterfinals, while the men are scheduled to play at 8 p.m. Both games, along with all tournament contests, will be played at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla. The games will stream on ESPN+ with the conference championship games airing nationally on ESPN2 on Monday.