• For the first time since 2014, Texas Southern will host a Division I foe as a non-conference opponent as Lamar makes the trip to the H&PE Arena Saturday night.
• This marks the second 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 last season.
• TSU has to replace three key starters from last year's squad but has several returnees who had made starts last year that will have to step up. Point guard Tyrik Armstong, shooting guard John Jones and forward Eden Ewing will be counted on to lead the charge as Armstrong and Jones are top returning scorers while Ewing is the top returning rebounder.
• Head coach Johnny Jones is 56-39 all-time in the month of November and 4-9 at TSU.
• Jones is 30-13 all-time against the Southland Conference.
• Lamar leads the all-time series against TSU by an 11-2 margin. The Cardinals defeated TSU 80-72 last season in Beaumont.
• TSU head coach Johnny Jones and Lamar's Tic Price have a long relationship dating back to the 1990s as Jones was an assistant on Price's staff at Memphis. Jones also served as the interim head coach at Memphis from 1999-00. Price served as an assistant on Jones' staff at North Texas in 2007-08.
• TSU was picked second in the Southwestern Athletic Conference preseason poll as senior forward Eden Ewing was named to the All-SWAC Preseason First Team.
• Eden Ewing was granted a sixth year of eligibility in the summer while forward John Walker III was recently granted a waiver to participate immediately after spending the past season at Texas A&M University.
• Three of TSU's first three opponents (San Diego State, Wichita State, Arkansas) are ranked in the Ken Pomeroy Basketball Ratings Top 100 and the final four non-conference opponents are also ranked in the top 100 (Nevada, Oregon, Arizona State, Texas A&M).
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Courtesy: TSU Athletics