TSU Basketball Teams To Face Mississippi Valley State Monday Evening
The TSU men’s and women’s basketball teams will close out SWAC play at Mississippi Valley State on Monday evening beginning at 5:30 p.m. in Itta Bena, Miss.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
• The TSU women’s baksetball team is back in action on Monday night at Mississippi Valley State for a 5:30 p.m. start.
• Micah Gray’s 41-point performance on Saturday set a TSU single-game scoring record. The previous high was 35, which was most recently attained on Jan. 6, 2022, by Adriana Avent.
• Both teams enter Saturday’s game looking for their first SWAC win of 2022. TSU is also looking for its first win of the year as the team has had strong starts to open its past two games before late lulls saw the leads evaporate.
• Micah Gray’s 33 against Central Florida was the fourth-highest single-game performance in at least the last 12 years.
• Micah Gray (16.8) and Adriana Avent (16.2) rank 3-6 in scoring amongst SWAC leaders.Jaida Belton ranks eighth in rebounding (5.2) while Kamryn Bates is second in assists (3.0).
• Andriana Avent was named the SWAC Player of the Week on Nov. 30 after recording double-digits against Rice (22) and Ole Miss (13). She surpassed the 500-point career mark at TSU in the loss against Ole Miss.
• TSU head coach Vernette Skeete inherits a program which finished fourth in the SWAC last season and fell in the first round of the 2022 SWAC Tournament on a late putback. This year’s roster, which has been picked to finish eighth in the SWAC, is drastically different with nine newcomers and six returnees. Six of the nine newcomers are true freshmen.
• Andriana Avent is TSU’s lone All-SWAC returnee as she was a scoring machine for TSU during her first season. She averaged 18.1 points in 23 games played. Avent has scored in double figures in 24 consecutive games dating back to the non-conference finale at USC on Dec. 18, 2021. Avent had nine games with 20-plus points, including four with 30-plus including a season-high 35 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Jan. 8.
• TSU has faced off against teams from seven conferences in 2022-23. TSU will square off against teams from the American (2), Sun Belt (1), Conference USA (2), SEC (2), WAC (2), ACC and Pac-12.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
• Texas Southern closes out its first SWAC road trip looking for its first SWAC win of the season at Mississippi Valley State on Monday night in Itta Bena, Miss.
• Texas Southern has dropped three straight contests and has began SWAC play 0-3 for the first time since 1999.
• Grad student Karl Nicholas is red hot as he has posted four double-doubles over the past seven games while Zytarious Mortle is the reigning SWAC Player of the Week as he averaged 27 points and six rebounds.
• TSU has won 10 straight over MVSU dating back to 1-23-17 and also has won 18 of the past 19 games.
• Head coach Johnny Jones is 8-0 lifetime against Mississippi Valley State and 7-0 at TSU.
• 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 squares 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 87-79 all-time in the month of January and 18-12 at TSU.
• For the third straight season, the Texas Southern men’s basketball team was picked to finish first in the Southwestern Athletic Conference while the duo of Karl Nicholas and John Walker III both earned preseason honors. Nicholas was tabbed the SWAC’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
Courtesy: TSUSports.com
