EDMONTON

His first couple shots went down. The next two attempts from inside the paint were good, too.

There was only a couple minutes left in the first half when Kevin Thomas was finally off-target.

Fittingly, he grabbed his rebound and put it in the hoop.

Thomas wouldn’t miss again.

The Ajax, Ont., native was an eye-popping 10-for-11 on field goals, scoring 22 points to go with 11 rebounds in Troy’s 85-73 victory over Central Arkansas on Saturday, continuing a trend that has helped his Trojans to a 3-3 start.

A senior forward, Thomas has been missing shots about as often as the Philadelphia 76ers win games this season. He’s converting attempts at a 66% success rate, which after the weekend had him ranked No. 22 of the well over 4,000 players in NCAA men’s Division-1 basketball.

“I’m just trying to play my game, just trying to focus on helping my team out the best I can,” said the 22-year-old. “If scoring comes, I take it. I just basically take what the defence gives you, and my teammates are finding me in the right place at the right time, so I’m just trying to focus on what I can do.”

Having taken 47 shots through six games (fourth most on the team), the six-foot-eight Thomas is not necessarily the focal point of the Trojans’ offense, but he has perhaps emerged as Troy’s most valuable player, leading the team in rebounds (8.7 per game), steals (1.8), blocks (1.3) and ranking third in points (11.8).

“I try not to be selfish in terms of scoring,” said Thomas. “I firmly believe there’s no ‘I’ in team. I definitely believe in team basketball and if someone else is having a great scoring night, I’m happy for them and I will continue to contribute to my team.”

This is the Canadian’s second year at the Alabama-based university, following two seasons at Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth, Fla. Thomas averaged 9.2 points and 6.9 rebounds, while shooting 49.8% from the field for the Trojans, who were eliminated in the first round of the Sun Belt tournament and finished the 2013-14 season with an 11-20 overall record.

“Being a returning senior, my goal is to bring it every day, regardless of what it is,” said Thomas. “If it’s scoring, if it’s rebounding, if it’s defence, whatever I can contribute.

“If the option is for me to be the main scorer at the time, I’ll do it. But my main objective is to just do what I can to help the team win and to advance to the championship of the conference and to March Madness.”

Brian.swane@sunmedia.ca

@SunBrianSwane

CANADIANS OF THE WEEK

DYLAN ENNIS, Villanova, junior guard

15 points, 9 assists, 3 rebounds in 84-70 vs. LaSalle on Dec. 3.

OLIVIER HANLAN, Boston College, junior guard

24 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals in 69-60 win vs. Providence on Dec. 5.

DUANE NOTICE, South Carolina, sophmore guard

20 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists in 75-49 win vs. Oklahoma State on Dec. 6.

DYSHAWN PIERRE, Dayton, junior forward

15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists in 73-64 win vs. Eastern Michigan on Dec. 6.

THIS WEEK'S BIG GAME



Kentucky vs. North Carolina

10 am mt Saturday, CBS TV

Saskatoon’s Trey Lyles, a highly-touted freshman power forward, and the Kentucky Wildcats play host to the Tar Heels in a non-conference meeting of two of college basketball’s most storied programs.