UGA MBB
Next Opponent: Texas Southern
HBCU D1 Men's Basketball Preseason Top 10
1 Grambling
2 Howard
3 Norfolk State
4 Texas Southern
5 Jackson State
6 North Carolina Central
7 Tennessee State
8 Alcorn State
9 Morgan State
10 Alabama State
SB Nation: Know Your Non-conference Opponent: Texas Southern
“Texas Southern has been a school in some form since 1927. I only mention that to point out that Texas Southern is the fourth name by which the university has been called in that time. I won’t type any of the other three here, but just know that you can find them on Wikipedia and they stand as a monument to how times have changed in the last 100 years.
The Tigers were not good last year, starting the season off by going to New Mexico to get clubbed by 37 and never really recovering from there. They ended up going 2-9 in non-conference play, with half their wins coming against some school called Biblical Studies. A 12-6 SWAC campaign culminated in a conference tournament final loss and a first-round exit in the CIT.
Veteran head coach Johnny Jones is the head man for TSU, starting his seventh season with the program, having also done stints at Memphis, North Texas, and LSU. His teams have consistently played fast on offense and flown to the glass to collect their own misses. Those have been plentiful at TSU, where he has only had a team in the top 250 of EFG% once. They don’t shoot a lot of threes or shoot them very well. It has all added up to consistently bottom-tier offenses.
His defenses have been okay but nothing special, which is what you might expect from a team that lingers in the low-majors. The EFG% against numbers have actually been solid in Jones’s time at Texas Southern, but they’ve been let down pretty much everywhere else. They put teams on the line a ton and only have a mediocre TO rate to show for it. They also haven’t defended the glass well either. They’ve had some decent defenses when it all comes together, but that hasn’t been very often.
Key departures
Leading scorer PJ Henry is out the door, taking his 14.9/2.8/2.4 with him. He was a bit of a volume guy, posting a 98.9 ORtg and EFG% of 48.3%, but he distributed the ball without turning it over and posted good steal numbers on the defensive end. His backcourt mate Jonathan Cisse is also gone. He was second-leading scorer and led the team in assists on his way to a 13.5/3.4/2.8 game line. He was much more efficient than Henry largely due to being a slightly better shooter and getting to the free throw line a ton, where he shot 83%.
Wing Deon Stroud also graduated. He averaged 7.0/3.2/1.1 per game and was third on the team in shot attempts. His efficiency numbers were really brought down by some turnover issues and the fact that he took more than half his shots from deep despite connecting on less than a third of those attempts.
Key returnees
Texas Southern returns a lot of their secondary players, which in times past has been a key to developing a decent program. On the other hand, maybe these dudes didn’t hit the portal because there isn’t a lot of demand for a single-digit scorer from a team that finished 267th in the KenPom.
Anyway, Grayson Carter is a 6’10”, 240-pound forward who averaged 7.1/4.2/1.1 last season. He was second on the team in OReb% and block rate, but he spent so much time on the perimeter that he shot more threes than free throws. I’m not talking about a Matt Bullard style weapon here either; he was 15-52 from deep on the year.
The guy who led the team in OReb% and block rate was Kenny Hunter, a 6’8”, 236-pound paint monster. He wasn’t much of a defensive rebounder and didn’t get to the line much at all, but he stayed and scored near the rim and played good defense. His 4.3 fouls per 40 minutes were a concern that really hampered his ability to stay on the court.
Guards Zytarious Mortle and Jaylen Wysinger make up for in awesome names what they lack in productivity. They’re both volume scorers, though Mortle was a little less efficient and a little more of a black hole. Both struggled to defend without fouling and neither did much in terms of rebounding or distribution. Maybe they worked on it in the offseason.
Incoming players
College basketball free agent Alex Anderson joins Texas Southern this season, marking his fourth school in four years. From South Alabama to Alabama State to Incarnate Word, he has been a consistent offensive contributor who uses a ton of possessions. He has posted good assist rates but high turnover numbers, decent shooting efficiencies, and a knack for getting to the line. He’s got good size for a guard at 6’6”, 200, and uses that to get into the lane. He is 8-35 from deep on his career, which is not good.
Joining him as a newcomer in the backcourt is Jaylin Jackson-Posey, who has previously only played for two other schools (Stephen F. Austin and New Mexico State). He has been plagued by foul trouble his entire career and that has kept him from ever being able to establish an offensive rhythm. He is a career 33% shooter from behind the arc and an excellent free throw shooter, but he fouls like he gets fined for every one he doesn’t use and has struggled with turnover issues. Maybe dropping a couple of levels will let him shine.
Some JuCo guys fill out the ranks. Duane Posey is a 6’7” slashing wing from Northwestern State. He averaged 6.7/4.3/0.4 last year and only shot two threes. Oumar Koureissi is 6’11”, 220-pound big, late of Jacksonville by way of Nichols State. He grabbed 12 minutes per game at Nichols last year, giving back 4.1 and 2.6 on .418/.200/.714 shooting for the trouble. If he’s any more that depth, either something has gone wrong or he took a huge leap.
Outlook
You don’t bring in a buy game to open the season for the purposes of challenging your team right off, and that’s the role Texas Southern is filling for Xavier. The Jaguars should be scrapping around the top of the table in the SWAC, but that’s one of the worst leagues in the country. This game should pay some bills for them and give Xavier a 1-0 start to the season.”
https://www.bannersontheparkway.com...nce-opponent-texas-southern-xavier-basketball
HBCU Basketball: Texas Southern Wins Home Opener Over Texas A&M-San Antonio
“The Texas Southern Tigers defeated the Texas A&M-San Antonio Jaguars 100-66 in their home opener at the Fertitta Center in Houston, TX, on Monday, Nov. 6.
Tigers guard Kavion McClain had a game-high 22 points, eight assists, three steals, and two rebounds. Forward Kenny Hunter added 15 points, seven rebounds, and two steals in the dominant win.
Johnny Jones' squad led 48-37 at halftime. The Tigers deployed a solid defensive effort with 15 steals, forcing 20 TAMUSA turnovers and scoring 24 points off turnovers.
Texas Southern outrebounded the Jaguars 34 to 27, having 17 offensive rebounds, and scored 56 to 18 points in the paint.
Texas Southern was 39-of-78 (50%) from the floor, made 10-of-28 treys (35.7%), and knocked in 12-of-20 (60%) from the charity stripe on the evening.
The Tigers cashed in with 23 second-chance points and 23 fast-break scoring. TSU received 46 points from nine bench players for a strong performance.
TAMUSA was 9-of-15 (38.1%) from the field, 6-of-10 (35%) from beyond the arc, and 5-of-15 from the free throw line at 33.3%.
Texas Southern will start a four-game road trip on Sunday, Nov. 10, with a matchup against Georgia in Athens at 2:30 PM CT. Following that, the Tigers will travel to Atlanta to face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
TSU will travel to Birmingham to play Samford on Sunday, Nov. 17, and conclude the trip a week later against New Mexico in Albuquerque on Sunday, Nov. 24.
The next Tigers home game will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 27, at H&PE Arena against Texas A&M-Kingsville.”
https://www.si.com/college/hbcu/bas...n-wins-home-opener-over-texas-a-m-san-antonio
'We'll take the win.' Xavier opens 2024-25 season with ugly victory over Texas Southern
“Xavier, which was a 22.5-point favorite against Texas Southern, was nowhere near the team that showed up to UD Arena a few weeks ago and blew out the Flyers in a charity exhibition and later scored 100-plus points in a "secret scrimmage" against Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
Instead, Xavier struggled from the field for the majority of the night, gave up too many offensive rebounds and couldn't consistently get stops on the defensive end. Thanks to a major edge from the free-throw line and some timely offense from a few Musketeers, Xavier was able to win its 35th consecutive regular-season opener, no matter how ugly it seemed.
1. Texas Southern threw the first punch
Texas Southern, a program that has been to the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four seasons, did not seem fazed by the bright lights of the Big East.
In a sluggish opening four minutes for both teams on the offensive end, Texas Southern took a 5-2 lead into the opening media timeout. When Xavier responded with an 8-0 run, the Tigers answered with a 13-0 spurt to take an 18-10 lead and they wouldn't trail for the remainder of the half.
2. Xavier's high-flying offense couldn't find a rhythm
The Xavier offense that shot 59.3% from the field and had seven scorers in double figures against Dayton Oct. 20 was nowhere to be found over the opening 20 minutes.
Xavier shot just 37.9% from the field in the first half and were saved by Texas Southern's foul trouble, which sent the Musketeers to the line 13 times. Xavier's lineup is filled with shooters who can punish from beyond the arc but there was a lid on the basket early as the Musketeers started just 3-of-15 from deep.
3. Offensive rebounding woes continue for Xavier
Xavier was plagued all of last season by its inability to grab rebounds at key moments in the game. That trend reared its ugly head again for Xavier as Texas Southern's long misses frequently produced second-shot opportunities.
The Tigers grabbed a half-dozen offensive rebounds in the first half that led to 10 second-chance points, including a pair of threes. Texas Southern came out on fire, knocking down five of its first nine treys.
"They hurt us badly rebounding," Miller said. "We're gonna have to rebound much better as a group. There's no better way to learn that than playing another team and getting exposed."
4. Ryan Conwell to the rescue
Indiana State transfer Ryan Conwell introduced himself in a big way Monday night with Xavier's offense looking lost at times.
Conwell finished with a game-high 21 points, the most by a Xavier player in their debut since Souley Boum (23) in 2022. Conwell was 5-of-10 from deep while all other Musketeers combined to go just 1-of-13.
Xavier's major edge came from Texas Southern's foul trouble. It began in the first half when forward Grayson Carter picked up his fourth foul and had to sit the majority of the second half. Xavier was in the double bonus with over 12 minutes remaining in regulation and the biggest box-score difference came at the charity stripe.
Xavier went 34-of-41 at the stripe while Texas Southern went 11-of-13. That disparity helped Xavier offset a 19-of-51 performance from the field. The Musketeers' bench combined to go 0-for-11 and only four players made a field goal.
"We're not gonna win many games when our non-starters go 0-for-11. That's hard to do. . . You could go through a phone book, you're not gonna find too many games that mirror that," said Miller, who attributed the poor offense to a mixture of opening night jitters, poor execution and a lack of rhythm.”
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sp...son-with-win-over-texas-southern/76051638007/
2025 Recruiting
UGA WBB
ABH: Georgia women's basketball freshman Trinity Turner already has her own signature move
https://www.onlineathens.com/story/...ner-already-has-a-signature-move/75989840007/
Next Opponent: Texas Southern
HBCU D1 Men's Basketball Preseason Top 10
1 Grambling
2 Howard
3 Norfolk State
4 Texas Southern
5 Jackson State
6 North Carolina Central
7 Tennessee State
8 Alcorn State
9 Morgan State
10 Alabama State
SB Nation: Know Your Non-conference Opponent: Texas Southern
“Texas Southern has been a school in some form since 1927. I only mention that to point out that Texas Southern is the fourth name by which the university has been called in that time. I won’t type any of the other three here, but just know that you can find them on Wikipedia and they stand as a monument to how times have changed in the last 100 years.
The Tigers were not good last year, starting the season off by going to New Mexico to get clubbed by 37 and never really recovering from there. They ended up going 2-9 in non-conference play, with half their wins coming against some school called Biblical Studies. A 12-6 SWAC campaign culminated in a conference tournament final loss and a first-round exit in the CIT.
Veteran head coach Johnny Jones is the head man for TSU, starting his seventh season with the program, having also done stints at Memphis, North Texas, and LSU. His teams have consistently played fast on offense and flown to the glass to collect their own misses. Those have been plentiful at TSU, where he has only had a team in the top 250 of EFG% once. They don’t shoot a lot of threes or shoot them very well. It has all added up to consistently bottom-tier offenses.
His defenses have been okay but nothing special, which is what you might expect from a team that lingers in the low-majors. The EFG% against numbers have actually been solid in Jones’s time at Texas Southern, but they’ve been let down pretty much everywhere else. They put teams on the line a ton and only have a mediocre TO rate to show for it. They also haven’t defended the glass well either. They’ve had some decent defenses when it all comes together, but that hasn’t been very often.
Key departures
Leading scorer PJ Henry is out the door, taking his 14.9/2.8/2.4 with him. He was a bit of a volume guy, posting a 98.9 ORtg and EFG% of 48.3%, but he distributed the ball without turning it over and posted good steal numbers on the defensive end. His backcourt mate Jonathan Cisse is also gone. He was second-leading scorer and led the team in assists on his way to a 13.5/3.4/2.8 game line. He was much more efficient than Henry largely due to being a slightly better shooter and getting to the free throw line a ton, where he shot 83%.
Wing Deon Stroud also graduated. He averaged 7.0/3.2/1.1 per game and was third on the team in shot attempts. His efficiency numbers were really brought down by some turnover issues and the fact that he took more than half his shots from deep despite connecting on less than a third of those attempts.
Key returnees
Texas Southern returns a lot of their secondary players, which in times past has been a key to developing a decent program. On the other hand, maybe these dudes didn’t hit the portal because there isn’t a lot of demand for a single-digit scorer from a team that finished 267th in the KenPom.
Anyway, Grayson Carter is a 6’10”, 240-pound forward who averaged 7.1/4.2/1.1 last season. He was second on the team in OReb% and block rate, but he spent so much time on the perimeter that he shot more threes than free throws. I’m not talking about a Matt Bullard style weapon here either; he was 15-52 from deep on the year.
The guy who led the team in OReb% and block rate was Kenny Hunter, a 6’8”, 236-pound paint monster. He wasn’t much of a defensive rebounder and didn’t get to the line much at all, but he stayed and scored near the rim and played good defense. His 4.3 fouls per 40 minutes were a concern that really hampered his ability to stay on the court.
Guards Zytarious Mortle and Jaylen Wysinger make up for in awesome names what they lack in productivity. They’re both volume scorers, though Mortle was a little less efficient and a little more of a black hole. Both struggled to defend without fouling and neither did much in terms of rebounding or distribution. Maybe they worked on it in the offseason.
Incoming players
College basketball free agent Alex Anderson joins Texas Southern this season, marking his fourth school in four years. From South Alabama to Alabama State to Incarnate Word, he has been a consistent offensive contributor who uses a ton of possessions. He has posted good assist rates but high turnover numbers, decent shooting efficiencies, and a knack for getting to the line. He’s got good size for a guard at 6’6”, 200, and uses that to get into the lane. He is 8-35 from deep on his career, which is not good.
Joining him as a newcomer in the backcourt is Jaylin Jackson-Posey, who has previously only played for two other schools (Stephen F. Austin and New Mexico State). He has been plagued by foul trouble his entire career and that has kept him from ever being able to establish an offensive rhythm. He is a career 33% shooter from behind the arc and an excellent free throw shooter, but he fouls like he gets fined for every one he doesn’t use and has struggled with turnover issues. Maybe dropping a couple of levels will let him shine.
Some JuCo guys fill out the ranks. Duane Posey is a 6’7” slashing wing from Northwestern State. He averaged 6.7/4.3/0.4 last year and only shot two threes. Oumar Koureissi is 6’11”, 220-pound big, late of Jacksonville by way of Nichols State. He grabbed 12 minutes per game at Nichols last year, giving back 4.1 and 2.6 on .418/.200/.714 shooting for the trouble. If he’s any more that depth, either something has gone wrong or he took a huge leap.
Outlook
You don’t bring in a buy game to open the season for the purposes of challenging your team right off, and that’s the role Texas Southern is filling for Xavier. The Jaguars should be scrapping around the top of the table in the SWAC, but that’s one of the worst leagues in the country. This game should pay some bills for them and give Xavier a 1-0 start to the season.”
https://www.bannersontheparkway.com...nce-opponent-texas-southern-xavier-basketball
HBCU Basketball: Texas Southern Wins Home Opener Over Texas A&M-San Antonio
“The Texas Southern Tigers defeated the Texas A&M-San Antonio Jaguars 100-66 in their home opener at the Fertitta Center in Houston, TX, on Monday, Nov. 6.
Tigers guard Kavion McClain had a game-high 22 points, eight assists, three steals, and two rebounds. Forward Kenny Hunter added 15 points, seven rebounds, and two steals in the dominant win.
Johnny Jones' squad led 48-37 at halftime. The Tigers deployed a solid defensive effort with 15 steals, forcing 20 TAMUSA turnovers and scoring 24 points off turnovers.
Texas Southern outrebounded the Jaguars 34 to 27, having 17 offensive rebounds, and scored 56 to 18 points in the paint.
Texas Southern was 39-of-78 (50%) from the floor, made 10-of-28 treys (35.7%), and knocked in 12-of-20 (60%) from the charity stripe on the evening.
The Tigers cashed in with 23 second-chance points and 23 fast-break scoring. TSU received 46 points from nine bench players for a strong performance.
TAMUSA was 9-of-15 (38.1%) from the field, 6-of-10 (35%) from beyond the arc, and 5-of-15 from the free throw line at 33.3%.
Texas Southern will start a four-game road trip on Sunday, Nov. 10, with a matchup against Georgia in Athens at 2:30 PM CT. Following that, the Tigers will travel to Atlanta to face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
TSU will travel to Birmingham to play Samford on Sunday, Nov. 17, and conclude the trip a week later against New Mexico in Albuquerque on Sunday, Nov. 24.
The next Tigers home game will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 27, at H&PE Arena against Texas A&M-Kingsville.”
https://www.si.com/college/hbcu/bas...n-wins-home-opener-over-texas-a-m-san-antonio
'We'll take the win.' Xavier opens 2024-25 season with ugly victory over Texas Southern
“Xavier, which was a 22.5-point favorite against Texas Southern, was nowhere near the team that showed up to UD Arena a few weeks ago and blew out the Flyers in a charity exhibition and later scored 100-plus points in a "secret scrimmage" against Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
Instead, Xavier struggled from the field for the majority of the night, gave up too many offensive rebounds and couldn't consistently get stops on the defensive end. Thanks to a major edge from the free-throw line and some timely offense from a few Musketeers, Xavier was able to win its 35th consecutive regular-season opener, no matter how ugly it seemed.
1. Texas Southern threw the first punch
Texas Southern, a program that has been to the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four seasons, did not seem fazed by the bright lights of the Big East.
In a sluggish opening four minutes for both teams on the offensive end, Texas Southern took a 5-2 lead into the opening media timeout. When Xavier responded with an 8-0 run, the Tigers answered with a 13-0 spurt to take an 18-10 lead and they wouldn't trail for the remainder of the half.
2. Xavier's high-flying offense couldn't find a rhythm
The Xavier offense that shot 59.3% from the field and had seven scorers in double figures against Dayton Oct. 20 was nowhere to be found over the opening 20 minutes.
Xavier shot just 37.9% from the field in the first half and were saved by Texas Southern's foul trouble, which sent the Musketeers to the line 13 times. Xavier's lineup is filled with shooters who can punish from beyond the arc but there was a lid on the basket early as the Musketeers started just 3-of-15 from deep.
3. Offensive rebounding woes continue for Xavier
Xavier was plagued all of last season by its inability to grab rebounds at key moments in the game. That trend reared its ugly head again for Xavier as Texas Southern's long misses frequently produced second-shot opportunities.
The Tigers grabbed a half-dozen offensive rebounds in the first half that led to 10 second-chance points, including a pair of threes. Texas Southern came out on fire, knocking down five of its first nine treys.
"They hurt us badly rebounding," Miller said. "We're gonna have to rebound much better as a group. There's no better way to learn that than playing another team and getting exposed."
4. Ryan Conwell to the rescue
Indiana State transfer Ryan Conwell introduced himself in a big way Monday night with Xavier's offense looking lost at times.
Conwell finished with a game-high 21 points, the most by a Xavier player in their debut since Souley Boum (23) in 2022. Conwell was 5-of-10 from deep while all other Musketeers combined to go just 1-of-13.
Xavier's major edge came from Texas Southern's foul trouble. It began in the first half when forward Grayson Carter picked up his fourth foul and had to sit the majority of the second half. Xavier was in the double bonus with over 12 minutes remaining in regulation and the biggest box-score difference came at the charity stripe.
Xavier went 34-of-41 at the stripe while Texas Southern went 11-of-13. That disparity helped Xavier offset a 19-of-51 performance from the field. The Musketeers' bench combined to go 0-for-11 and only four players made a field goal.
"We're not gonna win many games when our non-starters go 0-for-11. That's hard to do. . . You could go through a phone book, you're not gonna find too many games that mirror that," said Miller, who attributed the poor offense to a mixture of opening night jitters, poor execution and a lack of rhythm.”
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sp...son-with-win-over-texas-southern/76051638007/
2025 Recruiting
UGA WBB
ABH: Georgia women's basketball freshman Trinity Turner already has her own signature move
https://www.onlineathens.com/story/...ner-already-has-a-signature-move/75989840007/
