Tigers Back In Action Tonight At Bethune-Cookman

• TSU closes out its Sunshine State trip with another important match-up at Bethune-Cookman on Monday night.

• 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 is coming off an overtime win at Florida A&M on Saturday and now has sole possession of third place. B-CU is one game back at 6-4 and tied for fourth place.

• TSU head coach Johnny Jones will face B-CU for only the fourth time since 2013 as he defeated them 79-63 while head coach at LSU and twice (2022, ’23) at Texas Southern.

• This marks the lone meeting between both teams due to the SWAC’s unbalanced schedule as TSU has faced B-CU five times in series history. TSU holds a 3-2 lead in the all-time series.

• Picked ninth in the SWAC Preseason poll, B-CU is tied for fourth in the SWAC and is one game behind TSU. led by third-year head coach Reggie Theus, the Wildcats are second-ranked scoring offense in the SWAC and fifth in scoring defense. B-CU also shoots 43 percent as a team from the field as Jakobi Headi leads the team with 16.2 points followed by Zion Harmon’s 15 points. Reggie Ward, Jr. leads the team in rebounding with 5.1 rebounds.

• Guard PJ Henry joined the 1,000-point club at TSU on Jan. 29 while TSU head coach Johnny Jones is five wins from his 400th career win and one win from his 100th career win at TSU.

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

• 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.

• TSU head coach Johnny Jones is 95-80 all-time in the month of February and 27-10 at TSU.