Men’s Basketball Starts Postseason Run Against Jackson State Thursday Afternoon

• It’s SWAC Tournament time as Texas Southern kicks off postseason play against Jackson State on Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Birmingham, Ala.

• From Nov. 16-Dec. 17, six of its seven opponents on TSU’s schedule during that span were NCAA Tournament participants. The first contest at home wasn’t until Dec. 21.

• TSU clinched the third seed after its win over Prairie View A&M on Saturday. TSU split with Jackson State this season as both teams won at home.

• This time of the year is TSU’s time to shine. TSU has not lost in the first round of SWAC Tournament play since 2009 and has played in the title game the past five of six years as 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19.

• TSU head coach Johnny Jones is 14-3 lifetime against JSU as he has faced JSU as head coach at Memphis, North Texas and TSU. He’s 9-3 against JSU as TSU’s head coach.

• Since 2007, TSU is 23-14 against JSU and has won 15 of the past 19 dating back to 2015. TSU has won nine of the past 12 against JSU. Since 2012, TSU is 18-8 against JSU but seven of the eight losses have been in Jackson.

• Picked fourth in the SWAC Preseason poll, JSU started out hot but finished sixth. Ken Evans, Jr., the SWAC Player of the Year,  leads JSU in scoring and ranks first in the SWAC with 18.9 points per game while Jordan O’Neal follows with 12.7 points. Zeke Cook leads the team in rebounding with 6.7 rebounds per game.

• The last time TSU opened SWAC Tournament play on a Thursday (2021), they won three straight to win its first title in the Johnny Jones era. Since then, TSU has not played a tourney game on a Thursday since 2010 (Shreveport) as they won both games before falling in the title game.

• Guard PJ Henry joined the 1,000-point club at TSU on Jan. 29 while TSU head coach Johnny Jones won his 400th career game on March 9 and just achieved his 100th career win at TSU on Feb. 19.

• The Tigers are coming off their third straight SWAC Tournament Championship and NCAA Opening Round appearance as they fell to Fairleigh Dickinson last season.

•  TSU will face JSU in postseason play for the third time in four years as all games were in Birmingham, Ala. TSU won in OT in 2021 in the second round and defeated JSU in 2022 in the first round.

• For the fourth straight season, the Texas Southern men’s basketball team was picked to finish first in the Southwestern Athletic Conference preseason poll while senior guard PJ Henry was named the 2023-24 SWAC Preseason Player of the Year.

• TSU, which is led by sixth-year head coach Johnny Jones, has won the past three SWAC Tournament Championships and enters the 2023-24 season looking to earn an unprecedented fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and its eighth over the past 11 years. Only three teams have made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in SWAC history.

• TSU made its fourth consecutive postseason under Jones and third straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022-23.  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 advanced to the semifinals of the CIT in 2019. In 2019-20, the Tigers made it back to the semifinals of the SWAC Tournament after a third-place regular season finish but saw the season end abruptly due to COVID-19. TSU won the SWAC Tournament and First Four contest in 2021 and was the first SWAC team to beat a ranked opponent from the SEC in 2021 at Florida. TSU claimed another Power 5 non-conference win against Arizona State last season.

• Jones is 58-35 all-time in the month of March and 28-10 at TSU.