Koby Brea has past experience playing against Troy from his time at Dayton

When Kentucky takes the Fiserv Forum floor in Milwaukee later this week against Troy, there will be some familiar faces on the other side of the court for fifth-year Wildcat guard Koby Brea.

Brea has now played 146 games across his college career, but he remembers what it was like when his Dayton Flyers went up against the Trojans during the 2023-24 campaign. It was an early-season non-conference matchup for Dayton, which hosted Troy on Dec. 9, 2023, inside Dayton Arena. The Flyers came out with an 82-70 win as Brea, who won the Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year award that season, finished with eight points, four rebounds, and one assist on 3-4 shooting (2-3 from deep, of course) in 23 minutes played off the bench.

At the time, it likely felt like a regular ole game for Brea. But fast forward over a year later, and his experience in that matchup might actually help Kentucky when the Wildcats take on Troy in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Friday night. Immediately after the bracket was revealed, Brea was asked by reporters about his familiarity with the Trojans.

“I think they have a pretty similar team after looking at their roster just now,” Brea said.

And he would be correct.

Troy finished 20-12 (13-5 Sun Belt) last season, losing in the first round of the conference tournament. But head coach Scott Cross was able to lead the Trojans to the Big Dance this year thanks to plenty of roster continuity — somewhat of a rarity in today’s NIL/transfer landscape. He returned 10 pieces from last season’s team, including all six of his current top scorers. Troy improved over 30 spots in KenPom as a result and made its first NCAA Tournament since 2017.

Despite losing two of his top three scorers from a season ago, Cross developed from within and built a squad that was even better in the Sun Belt in 2024-25. Facing a handful of tough non-conference foes, Troy cruised through the conference tournament, winning all three games by at least 13 points with an average margin of victory of 16 points. The individual scoring this season compared to last is much more spread out, but it’s been defense where the biggest improvement was made.

How much will Brea’s memory of Troy from last season help in this week’s tournament game? That’ll be decided in the film room. His experience certainly won’t hurt though. When it’s a win-or-go-home scenario, any little bit of help can end up being the difference.

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