Men’s Basketball To Face Southern Thursday Night On The Road

• Texas Southern is back on the road as they prepare to close out the 2019-20 regular season with a contest at Southern on Thursday night. TSU is in a busy stretch as this is the third of five games over a 10-day stretch.

• 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.

• The Tigers are assured of hosting a first round home game but seeding is still up in the air. One win in the team’s final two games solidifies the second seed but could fall to third with a pair of losses.

• Head coach Johnny Jones is 39-30 all-time in the month of March and 9-2 at TSU. 

• Jones is 5-2 lifetime against Southern University and 3-1 against SU’s Sean Woods.

• Picked sixth in the preseason poll, SU has defied expectations and is fighting to finish as high as second place. Darius Williams leads the team in rebounding with 6.4 while they feature a balanced roster with no double digit scorers. SU assistant coach Jethro Hillman was a former TSU assistant coach from 2001-2006 under Ronnie Courtney.

• TSU is 19-6 against SU since March 5, 2009 and has won 12 of the past 15 contests since March 8, 2014.

• Yahuza Rasas has nine double-doubles on the season for the Tigers and averages 9.1 rebounds in SWAC play. TSU’s Eden Ewing is averaging 10.9 points and 4.9 rebounds since the start of SWAC play.

• TSU takes the term “home, sweet home” to heart as the Tigers are 102-23 inside the H&PE Arena since 2008. TSU has won nine-plus games at home every year since the 2010-11 season as they’re 10-1 this season.

• TSU was picked 2nd in the SWAC preseason poll as senior forward Eden Ewing was named to the All-SWAC Preseason First Team. Ewing was granted a sixth year of eligibility in the summer.