Tigers Head To South Dakota Friday Night
• 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.
• 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 55-36 all-time in the month of November and 3-6 at TSU.
• Jones is 15-8 all-time against the current group of teams from the Summit League. He is 14-8 against Denver and 1-0 versus Oral Roberts.
• South Dakota is 1-1 all-time against the SWAC as they played Grambling State and Southern. USD defeated Grambling State but fell to Southern.
• 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).
• In an odd twist, TSU will have to deal with a Texan as USD’s Stanley Umede is the leading scorer with 18.7 ppg. He’s a native of San Antonio and one of two Texans on the roster.
Courtesy: TSUSports.com
