Tigers Seek 11th SWAC Tournament Championship Saturday Afternoon

• Texas Southern seeks its 11th SWAC Tournament Championship as they prepare for its sixth straight title game appearance as they draw No. 2 Grambling State on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

• TSU finished eighth in the SWAC and is playing as the No. 8 seed. The last time a #8 seed upset a top-seed in the first round during the current eight-team format occurred in 2010 as Grambling State beat Jackson State in Shreveport, La. The last time a #8 seed advanced to the title game occurred in 2014 as Prairie View A&M won three straight before losing to TSU.

• This time of the year is TSU’s time to shine. TSU has not lost in the championship round since 2019 and has played in the title game the past six of seven years as 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19. TSU has made 10 title game appearances in the past 13 years.

• Saturday’s game marks the fourth postseason meeting between both teams since March 10, 2017 with the last in 2022. Since 1981, TSU is 9-2 against Grambling State in postseason play. GSU’s last tourney win over TSU occurred in 1988.

• Jones is 11-4 lifetime against Grambling State and 8-4 at TSU.

• Since 2010, GSU is 7-23 against TSU but has won six of the past 13 games as head coach Donte’ Jackson has all the wins during that span. History says the game will be close as five of the past 13 games have been decided by three points or less.

• TSU’s Karl Nicholas joined the 1,000-point club in early February. He’s the second Tiger on the team (John Walker III) to have surpassed the mark this season.

• TSU is 10-7 all-time in SWAC Championship games.

• This marks the fifth year for TSU head coach Johnny Jones. TSU made its third consecutive postseason under Jones and second straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021-22.  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 has faced off against teams from nine Division I conferences in 2022-23. TSU squared off against teams from the WCC, Big 12 (2), Pac-12, Summit, SoCon, American, SEC, Big South and CAA. TSU also hosted a pair of NAIA institutions in December.

• For the first time since 2002, TSU spent a considerable amount of time at home during non-conference play with four home games during its 2022-23 non-conference schedule.

• Jones is 55-34 all-time in the month of March and 25-8 at TSU.

• For the third straight season, the Texas Southern men’s basketball team was picked to finish first in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Karl Nicholas earned All-SWAC second team honors after the regular season.