Alabama
Troy basketball turns back South Alabama 65-55, knocks Jaguars out of first place
Troy carried over a dominant second half vs. South Alabama last weekend into a strong 40-minute effort on Saturday, beating the Jaguars 65-55 at Trojan Arena.
The Trojans (12-7, 5-3 Sun Belt Conference) won at home vs. their in-state rival for the fourth straight year, and temporarily knocked the Jaguars (14-6, 6-2) out of first place in the conference. Arkansas State (16-5, 7-2) is a half-game ahead of South Alabama in the overall standings, with the Jaguars facing a weather-related makeup game at Louisiana-Monroe on Monday.
Troy led nearly throughout on Saturday, overcoming an early 3-2 deficit with a 15-0 run behind some hot 3-point shooting. The Trojans hit eight from beyond the arc in the first half and 12 in the game, and pulled down an astounding 20 offensive rebounds.
“They punked us, man,” South Alabama coach Richie Riley said in his postgame comments on SportsTalk 99.5 FM. “They pushed us around on the glass. They pushed us around on the perimeter. I mean, it was hand-to-hand combat for 40 minutes.
“And we’ve got to respond better to that, because it won’t be the last time we see it. I mean, anytime you play these dudes, that’s what it’s going to be.”
South Alabama cut the deficit to six at halftime and to four at 50-46 in the final six minutes, but Troy had an answer each time. Myles Rigsby made a massive 3-pointer after an offensive rebound with 5:20 to play, then Tayton Conerway hit another with 1:19 left to put the Trojans up 10 and essentially ice the game.
It was a continuation for Troy of the second half from last week’s meeting vs. South Alabama in Mobile, in which the Trojans trailed by 20 at halftime before storming back to take the lead in the final minute. South Alabama’s Barry Dunning made two free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining to give the Jaguars a 65-64 win in that one.
Rigsby — back in the starting lineup Saturday for the first time in two weeks after missing time following an elbow to the head vs. Texas State on Jan. 11 — led the Trojans with 15 points, while Cooper Campbell had 12 (all on 3-pointers) and Jackson Fields added 10 rebounds (5 offensive). Conerway shot just 4-for-17 from the floor, but posted a solid all-around effort with 10 points, nine assists and five steals.
Jayden Cooper led South Alabama with a season-high 17 points off the bench, but was the lone Jaguars player in double-figures. Dunning added nine points and nine rebounds, but South Alabama shot just 27% (6-for-22) on 3-pointers.
“It’s so stressful out there, but also I know things don’t happen if your guys don’t play extremely hard,” Troy coach Scott Cross told the Troy Radio Network. “That’s what I told them before the game, ‘wars are won by the will of men,’ not by weapons or scouting reports or plays or zones or any of that.
“Our guys had that look in their eyes tonight. There were a couple times where the game got a little bit close, but overall, our guys really were locked-in defensively. I mean, what a game defensively. We were able to get 13 more shot attempts, and I think that was the difference in the game.”
Troy attempted 40 3-pointers, but made enough to keep South Alabama at bay. The Trojans out-rebounded the Jaguars 41-35 overall, and made 7 of 10 free throws.
South Alabama was 9-for-15 from the free-throw line, and turned the ball over 15 times. That’s uncharacteristic of a Jaguars team that has been among the best in the country at taking care of the ball, but also speaks to Troy’s physical style both in the second half last Saturday in Mobile and for the entire game on Saturday.
“We got physically manhandled,” Riley said. “I mean, they fouled us every possession. And we’ve got to be tougher than that. Sixty minutes straight of that. And we knew it was coming. We knew those were not going to be called fouls.
“… But it’s not on the refs, it’s on us. We knew what the game was going to be. They let them foul like crazy, and that’s what they do for 40 minutes. And we knew that coming in. We prepared for it. And we didn’t handle it well.”
South Alabama travels to ULM at 6:30 p.m. Monday in game that was originally scheduled for Thursday, but postponed due to dangerous road conditions caused by winter storm Enzo. Troy hosts Southern Miss at 5 p.m. Monday in a game that was also snowed out on Thursday.
Adrian Klemm, meet the challenge of a career.
Alabama football’s first-year offensive line coach is one of three new faces at Kalen DeBoer’s conference table. And, next year, history says there might be three more. At the major college level, heavy turnover among assistant coaches is business as usual. But make no mistake; Klemm was DeBoer’s most important hire of the offseason. He might well be the most important hire DeBoer has made in his 26 months on the job.
That’s the magnitude of the mess that Alabama’s 2025 offensive line left behind.
The Crimson Tide’s 2025 rushing attack was an insult to the word attack. It was more like a rushing surrender; ranked 123rd out of 134 FBS teams, and 15th of 16 SEC teams, at 104.1 yards per game. Rock bottom came in the SEC Championship Game, when Georgia sent it backward for minus-3 yards. It’s frankly remarkable that quarterback Ty Simpson assembled a 28-5 TD-INT ratio, as a first-year starter no less, with virtually zero help from a ground game. And while we’re on the subject of the passing game, Simpson wasn’t very well-protected, either. At 2.13 sacks allowed per game, UA ranked 90th in the country.
If Klemm even bothered to watch film of last year’s offensive line, he had to do it with one eye closed.
UA tried all sorts of combinations up front, looking for a solution to what was plainly its biggest problem. In 45 years paying attention to college football, I never saw so many substitutions on an offensive line as Alabama made in 2025. Backups got every chance that could have asked for. On one hand, it was understandable that now-fired offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic refused to stay with a failing five all season.
But it also smacked of desperation.
In the end, it was clear that no combination was effective; the first-team unit Kapilovic finally settled on late in the season was the one that got manhandled by Georgia in Atlanta.
It was a shock to the system for Alabama fans, who know what a dominant run game looks like whether they’re young or old. Jam Miller led Alabama with 504 rushing yards on the season; former UA star Derrick Henry once ran for 557 in a three-game stretch against Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State.
Miller, of course, is no Henry. But the gap between those two is no bigger than the gap between Henry’s 2015 offensive line and the disastrous line that took the field a decade later.
Klemm is tasked with turning that mess around in a single offseason, with only one returning part-time starter in sophomore Michael Carroll, a promising cornerstone to be sure. But an offensive line is only as strong as its weakest link, and Klemm must find four links to line up beside Carroll. A collection of returning backups, transfers and incoming freshmen have a lot of improvements to make, along with a strong impression on a new position coach.
With spring practice underway, that process has begun in earnest.
And Klemm faces a taller task than any assistant on the practice field.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
The mother of an Enterprise toddler, reported missing Feb. 16, has been charged with capital murder, said Police Chief Michael Moore.
Adrienne Reid, mother of Genesis Nova Reid, reported her daughter as missing to authorities and said the two-year-old was not in the home and the door was open. On March 9, she was charged with capital murder of a child under the age of 14 and abuse of a corpse, Moore said. March 9 would have been Genesis’ birthday, he said. Adrienne Reid had previously been charged with filing a false report about her daughter’s disappearance.
She is being held without bond, Moore said. Adrienne Reid could not be reached for comment and court records do not show if she has an attorney.
The case shocked Enterprise and southeast Alabama. Hundreds of volunteers searched for her, and people were asked to wear pink to honor her.
Early on in the investigation neighbors told law enforcement that they hadn’t seen the child for several weeks.
Moore said evidence points to the capital murder charge even though Genesis’ body has not been found. The last time she was seen was Christmas night while visiting family in Dothan, Moore said. Video footage at the apartment complex where they lived showed Adrienne Reid about 11:30 p.m. Christmas night pulling a rolling duffle bag to a dumpster at the complex, and throwing the duffle bag inside, he said.
Coffee County Sheriff Scott Byrd said his office began the process of planning to search the landfill early in the investigation. The landfill covers 100 acres. He said the area where the contents of the dumpster that allegedly contained Genesis’ body was likely dumped has been narrowed down to an area covering a few hundred feet.
Active searches will begin soon, he said. District Attorney James Tarbox said the state will be seeking the death penalty.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com. To support his work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
BREWTON, Ala. — A 46-year-old woman is charged with the murder of a 27-year-old woman in Brewton, Alabama.
Deputies arrested Renotta Seltzer on Friday. She was booked into the Escambia County Jail in Alabama around 4:15 p.m. She’s being held without bond.
The shooting happened Friday on McGougin Road.
The victim is 27-year-old Anna Brown.
Sheriff Heath Jackson tells WEAR News that the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
The sheriff’s office is expected to release more details on Monday.
Stick with WEAR News on-air and online for more updates on this story.
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