Tigers Prepare For SWAC Tournament Opener Thursday Afternoon
• The Tigers closed out SWAC play on a strong note with a six-game winning streak and winners of 11-of-12 games.
• 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.
• Head coach Johnny Jones is 43-32 all-time in the month of March and 13-4 at TSU.
• Jones is 3-2 lifetime against Alcorn State and 1-0 against ASU’s Landon Bussie. • Alcorn State enters on a three-game losing streak but took TSU to the wire last week in Houston as they fell 80-78. Byron Joshua scored 30 points in the contest as TSU battled back from a late deficit to win.
• TSU’s 25-game win streak over ASU came to an end in January of 2020 as ASU started a twogame streak in 2020. TSU broke the streak last week as the first meeting was canceled due to COVID-19. TSU hasn’t faced Alcorn State in postseason play since the finals of the 2017 SWAC Tournament as they won 53-50.
• This time of the year is TSU’s time to shine. TSU has not lost in the first round of SWAC Tournament play since 2009 and has played in the title game the past three of four years as 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19.
• TSU was tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the 2020-21 SWAC title in the annual preseason poll with nine lettermen returning and three starters. 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. 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.
Courtesy: TSUSports.com
