3/17/2021

• The Texas Southern Tigers are back in the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in school history as they prepare to face the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers in the First Four round of the 2021 NCAA Basketball Tournament. The contest will tip-off at 4:10 p.m. (CST) at the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall located on the Indiana University campus. TruTV will televise the contest.

• The game can be heard on KTSU 90.9 FM but there will be no audio stream. Westwood One will carry the adio stream as the link is above.

• The Tigers have won nine straight and have won 14 of their past 15 games. TSU is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018 and is looking for its second consecutive tournament First Four win as they defeated North Carolina Central in the 2018 First Four.

• TSU is 1-8 all-time in NCAA Tournament contests and 1-2 in First Four/Opening Round contests.

• 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 46-32 all-time in the month of March and 16-4 at TSU. He’s back in the NCAA Tournament as a head coach for the first time since 2015 and fourth all-time.

• A member of the Northeast Conference, Mount St. Mary’s won its conference tournament and is back in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in school history. TSU head coach Johnny Jones nor TSU as ever played a team from the Northeast Conference. The Mount is led by Damian Chong Qui’s 15.1 points, 5.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds while Nana Opuku averages 10.3 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

• TSU is coming off an impressive SWAC Tournament as they claimed the title in a dominant fashion over top-seeded Prairie View A&M. TSU will carry the banner for the SWAC in the tournament as the league is 2-8 all-time in First Four/Opening Round games. The SWAC’s last First Four Opening Round win occurred in 2018 by TSU. Arkansas-Pine Bluff also claimed a win in 2010.

• 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.

• The SWAC will face a team from the NEC in the opening round for the second consecutive tournament as 2019 champion Prairie View A&M fell to Fairleigh Dickinson.

COURTESY TEXAS SOUTHERN SPORTS INFORMATION