Tigers Head East To Face Auburn Tuesday Night

• Texas Southern is back in action on Tuesday night as they’ll head to Auburn, Ala. to meet Auburn at 6 p.m. live on the SEC Network+.

• This marks the third 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 in 2019. Last season, 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.

• Tonight marks the fourth meeting all-time between both teams as Auburn holds a 3-0 lead. The past two games have been decided by 4.5 points. Both teams last met in 2014 with Auburn  winning 61-60.

• TSU is somewhat well-rested with one game over the past 12 days. TSU added a home contest last Friday versus LeTourneau as the Tigers won by a 103-60 margin.

• TSU head coach Johnny Jones is 83-50 all-time in the month of December and 5-10 at TSU. Jones is 3-6 all-time against Auburn as he has matched up against Auburn while head coach at North Texas and LSU.

• Senior guard Michael Weathers was named the SWAC’s Player of the Week for the second straight week as he led TSU in scoring with a 23-point effort on 8-of-12 shooting in 33 minutes played at Saint Mary’s on Dec. 3. The senior guard also led TSU in steals (4), blocks (2) and assists (3).

• TSU was tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the 2020-21 SWAC title in the annual preseason poll. The Tigers also had a trio of student-athletes earn preseason honors as Yahuza Rasas and Justin Hopkins were named to the first team while Chris Baldwin received second team honors.

• TSU returns an experienced roster with nine lettermen returning and three starters. Depth won’t be an issue early on for the Tigers as they return six players who combined for 22 starts while serving as valuable members of the rotation last season. In terms of newcomers, experience won’t be an issue as four of the five newcomers are NCAA Division I transfers who sat out last season due to NCAA rules.