Basketball Teams To Close Out Homestand Against Bethune-Cookman Monday Evening
Texas Southern basketball closes out its three-game homestand against Bethune-Cookman starting at 5 p.m. tonight with the men to follow live on ESPNU at 8 p.m.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
• TSU closes out its home stretch Monday night as Bethune-Cookman comes to Houston for an 8 p.m. matchup live on ESPNU inside the H&PE Arena.
• The injury bug infected TSU during the first half in a big way as the team was down two key starters in every SWAC game until Jan. 16. TSU slowly got back to full strength as the team is 3-2 with the starters back in the rotation but wasn’t 100 percent healthy as the team was down two key reserves the past few games. With only the top eight teams earning postseason bids, every game will matter for the Tigers as 12 teams are vying for those spots.
• TSU head coach Johnny Jones will face BCU for only the third time since 2013 as he defeated them 79-63 while head coach at LSU and 66-63 last year in Daytona Beach, Fla.
• TSU will face BCU for the second time since 2008. The series is tied at 2-2 as last year’s win over BCU was TSU’s first over them since 2003. BCU will play in Houston for the first time since 2003.
• 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 89-77 all-time in the month of February and 21-7 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.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
• TSU women’s basketball closes out its homestand with a match-up against Bethune-Cookman Monday night at 5 p.m. inside the H&PE Arena.
• This marks the second meeting all-time between TSU and Bethune-Cookman as BCU won last year’s meeting in Daytona Beach, Fla. This marks the fourth school from the state of Florida TSU has played this season.
• Freshman Donterria Brown recorded TSU’s first double-double of the season on Saturday against Florida A&M. Brown led the team in points (12) and rebounds (10).
• Andriana Avent’s efforts last week won her the SWAC Player of the Week for the thid time this season and second in a row. TSU has five POTY Winners now with Micah Gray collecting the other two.
• Micah Gray earned her second SWAC Player of the Week honor of her freshman campaign after setting a school-record 41-point performance against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Jan. 7 then helping the Tigers earn their first win of the season with a 24-point, 5-rebound and 3-steal performance on Moday against Mississipi Valley State.
• Micah Gray’s 33 against Central Florida was the fourth highest single-game performance in at least the last 12 years.
• 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 fined 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.
Courtesy: TSUSports.com
