Men’s Basketball Knocks Off Troy, 73-64

Thursday, January 29

Troy, Ala.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

11-11,4-6Sun Belt

Troy

15-7,8-2Sun Belt

James Madison

Troy

1/29/2026 10:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

TROY, Ala. – Cliff Davis scored 23 points, Eddie Ricks III notched a double-double, and James Madison men's basketball picked up a crucial Sun Belt Conference road victory against Troy, 73-64, on Thursday evening at Trojan Arena.

JMU (11-11, 4-6 Sun Belt) trailed by nine in the first but used an 8-0 run to surge ahead late in the half and did not trail the rest of the game, handing Troy (15-7, 8-2 SBC) its first loss in six games. JMU outrebounded Troy 45-33 and held the Trojans to 36 percent shooting.

Davis notched his third 20-point game of the year, hitting his first five threes and finishing with 23 points. Ricks III recorded his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, while Christian Brown tallied a career-high 13 rebounds.

Bradley Douglas finished with 14 points – all after halftime – and led the Dukes with four assists.

Victor Valdes led Troy with 16 points, one of four Trojans to reach double figures. Thomas Dowd (12), Theo Seng (11), and Cooper Campbell (10) also scored 10 or more. Dowd finished with a double-double, collecting 10 rebounds.

How It Happened
First Half: James Madison 31, Troy 28

Troy took advantage of six early JMU turnovers to build a 14-7 lead eight minutes into the game.
Davis kept the Dukes in the game with four triples as JMU cut the deficit to 21-18 at the U8 timeout. He hit his fifth to tie the game at 23-23.
Down four (27-23), a corner three from Fowler tied the game at 27-27 after JMU trailed by as many as nine (21-12) in the first half, and the Dukes picked up layups from Eddie Ricks III and Fowler to take a slim lead into the break.

Second Half: James Madison 73, Troy 64

The score went back and forth in the opening minutes of the half. The game reached the under-12 media timeout with JMU holding a 45-42 lead.
JMU, leading 51-47, scored seven straight points to go ahead by double digits (58-47) with 6:23 left in the game.
The Trojans battled back and cut their deficit to three (62-59). The Dukes answered with a three from Douglas and a layup from Brown to extend the lead to 67-59 with 1:29 left.
JMU held off Troy the rest of the way and hit four free throws to seal the win.

Game Notes

Troy suffered its first home conference loss since falling 72-69 to Louisiana on Feb. 20, 2025. JMU improved to 3-9 in road games this season.
Brown also recorded a block, bringing his season total to 38. He now owns the second-most blocks for a JMU freshman in program history, trailing only Andre Nation (47, 2012-13).
JMU improved to 2-0 in road games at Troy and 4-1 all-time against the Trojans.
Davis' 23 points marked his third 20-point game of the season and his fifth straight game with at least four threes. During that span, he has made 26 triples (5.2 per game).
Ricks III's double-double is his third of the season and fourth of his career.