• Texas Southern prepares for game two of the four-game Collegiate Hoops Roadshow Tuesday night as they'll head to Fayetteville, Ark. to face the University of Arkansas.
• This marks the second year for TSU head coach Johnny Jones. Jones went 24-14 in his inaugural year as head coach with three Power 5 conference wins. TSU fell in the finals of the 2019 SWAC Tournament and competed in the CIT. TSU advanced to the semifinals of the CIT last season.
• Texas Southern Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Kevin Granger has fond memories of Arkansas as he was a player on the 1993 TSU squad which met sitting President of the United States Bill Clinton. It was believed to be the first time a sitting President had attended a college basketball game. Arkansas won the game that night but Granger nearly had the last laugh a year later as TSU fell to Arkansas 79-78 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament after a late rally.
• TSU has to replace three key starters from last year's squad but has several returnees who had made starts last year that will have to step up. Point guard Tyrik Armstong, shooting guard John Jones and forward Eden Ewing will be counted on to lead the charge as Armstrong and Jones are top returning scorers while Ewing is the top returning rebounder. • Head coach Johnny Jones is 55-37 all-time in the month of November and 3-7 at TSU.
• Jones is 46-63 all-time against the SEC and 5-6 against Arkansas.
• Arkansas is 6-0 against TSU all-time as this is the first meeting since 2011.
• TSU was picked second in the Southwestern Athletic Conference preseason poll as senior forward Eden Ewing was named to the All-SWAC Preseason First Team. • Eden Ewing was granted a sixth year of eligibility in the summer while forward John Walker III was recently granted a waiver to participate immediately after spending the past season at Texas A&M University.
• TSU's home game on Nov. 30 marks the first time since 2014 the team will host a Division I foe as a non-conference opponent.
• Three of TSU's first three opponents (San Diego State, Wichita State, Arkansas) are ranked in the Ken Pomeroy Basketball Ratings Top 100 and the final four non-conference opponents are also ranked in the top 100 (Nevada, Oregon, Arizona State, Texas A&M).
• Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman was the associate head coach at LSU under head coach Johnny Jones in 2014-15. He moved to Nevada as head coach in 2015 and hired Jones in the same capacity in 2017. TSU assistant coach Brandon Chambers and video coordinator Derek Saich both worked under Musselman at Nevada.
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Courtesy: TSU Athletics