Tigers Prepare For Showdown At Oklahoma State Saturday Evening

• Texas Southern heads to the state of Oklahoma for a meeting against Oklahoma State Saturday evening in Stillwater. The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+.

• Saturday’s game marks the first time since 2018 TSU will play a Big 12 team despite the close proximity of its member schools to Houston. Baylor was TSU’s last Big 12 opponent as TSU claimed a 72-69 win Nov. 6, 2018 in Waco. TSU will also host TCU in December.

• 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.

• This marks the third meeting against Oklahoma State in series history for TSU and first since 2006. OSU won the 2006 meeting 86-65 while the first meeting in 1989 came down to the wire as OSU won 79-77. OSU is 26-0 all-time against teams from the SWAC.

• TSU senior guard Michael Weathers will face off against his old team as he spent two seasons at OSU after transferring from Miami (Ohio). Weathers saw action in 16 games during the 2018-19 season and averaged 9.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists. 

• TSU head coach Johnny Jones is 8-15 against teams from the Big 12 all-time and 1-3 versus OSU as all four contests occurred while serving as head coach at North Texas. He has faced every team in the current lineup of the Big 12 except Iowa State.

• 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.

• Head coach Johnny Jones is 57-40 all-time in the month of November and 5-10 at TSU.