It’s almost tournament time, and that has come to have meaning around the Texas Southern men’s basketball program.
No matter how the regular season has gone, this has become the time of the year when the Tigers reset. They’ve gotten hot in the SWAC Tournament and won it all an unprecedented three straight seasons to serve as the league’s automatic invitee to the NCAA Tournament.
And it doesn’t matter where the Tigers have finished in the regular season, they somehow find a way to win, and not just in the SWAC Tournament. In the two of the last three seasons, they’ve also won the play-in game of the NCAA Tournament.
So what is it about the Tigers and the tournament season?
“I wish I knew the formula. We’ve been fortunate and we have won,” said sixth-year TSU coach Johnny Jones, whose team entered last year’s SWAC Tournament as an eighth seed and still won it all. “I don’t think there is any magic force or anything that we are putting on. We have just been very fortunate that guys in the program and great staff here with us and the kids have really played well down the stretch.”
Control what you can control
The Tigers, who were picked in the preseason as the SWAC regular-season champions, will again have to play the role of upset specialists in next week’s SWAC Tournament after they failed to live up to the lofty preseason expectations. Depending on if they win Saturday’s regular-season finale against rival Prairie View (H&PE Arena at 5 p.m.) and the outcomes of a few others, they could finish anywhere from second in the conference to fifth.
But Jones insists now isn’t the time to worry about next week.
“We just control what we can control and that’s our next game,” Jones said to the Defender. “That’s the most important thing for us. We know that it’s not in our control. We don’t control our own destiny so to speak, because you have to rely on the work of someone else in terms of finishing.
“But at the same time, we’re playing the right way and worrying about our next game and winning that one. It’s getting to the tournament and making sure you are playing the right way at the right time.”
Dominant backcourt duo
The Tigers (13-15 overall, 11-6 SWAC) certainly seem to be built for tournament season success, starting with the dynamic backcourt of senior PJ Henry and transfer Jonathan Cisse. After learning to play with each other earlier in the season, the duo has learned to not only play with each other but off each other.
Henry and Cisse are both strong ball handlers who can create for themselves as well as others. This week, Cisse was named SWAC Player of the Week after averaging 26.5 points in games against Jackson State and Alcorn State while shooting 56% from the field and 58% from 3-point range.
“I think both of them, not just on the offensive end of the floor, but defensively, they’ve been able to pick it up and get better as well,” said Jones. “It’s been great to have two guys throughout the year that have the ball handling skills and the ability to score. That’s not something we’ve had that’s been that potent since I’ve been here.”
Jones is also enjoying the depth that he has along with two versatile big men in Grayson Carter and Kenny Hunter. Carter can play with his back to the basket and facing it, and his 12 three-pointers this season force teams to guard him on the perimeter.
Hunter, meanwhile, has been an enforcer on the inside, as evidenced by his team-leading 34 blocks and he is shooting 52% from the floor.
“I think they are gelling at the right time,” Jones said. “You look at the percentages early on, trying to figure it out. They have a good core of guys and guys understand where their easier scoring opportunities are and where their most impact can be made and their field goal percentages represent that.”
While the Tigers suffered a disappointing 82-79 home loss to Alcorn State on Monday night that snapped a four-game winning streak and erased any chance of them finishing as regular-season champs, Jones still believes his team is playing its best basketball right now. That has been the case around tournament time the past few seasons.
“I’m excited. I think we have everything in place, and just like like anything else you certainly have to be playing right at the right time,” said Jones, who is one victory away from hitting a milestone 400 career wins as a coach. “There are a lot of good teams in our league and to win this championship you are going to have to be hitting on all cylinders, and we know that. Hopefully, that’s what we’ve been geared towards throughout this conference season.”
