Texas Southern

Texas Southern Moves on With Huge 62-50 Win Over Mount St Mary’s

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After a season that saw teams across the nation play, postpone, or cancel games, March Madness got underway in Indianapolis. The first game was the Tigers of Texas Southern, SWAC Champions, versus Mount St. Mary’s, champions of the Northeast Conference. The NCAA tournament was now underway with all 68 teams knowing they were now in a win or go home situation.

In the press conference the day before, I asked TSU coach, Johnny Jones the plan for the first five to ten minutes of the game. He told me that he would have to manage nerves and emotions, but expected his team to play well. I was curious what we would all see during that time.

The first five minutes saw both teams struggle to open the game and then start to settle in a bit. TSU’s John Walker scored the first four points on two free throws and an inside move. A big three by Michael Weathers tied it at 7-7. But the Mountaineers stayed with the Tigers and had the lead at 10-7 with 14:08 to go in the half.

The deliberate style of play by Mount St. Mary’s kept the pace where they liked it. Even when they had a chance for a fast break, they did not take it. Instead, they were satisfied waiting to see the TSU defense set up and play it from there. It would lead to a 6-2 run to put them up 13-9.

The struggles continued for TSU as they missed jumpers, inside shots, and just could not get into a rhythm. In the meantime, the Mountaineers were playing their game, setting up their shots, rebounding, and outmuscling TSU. With 6:30 left in the half, it was 19-13 Mount St. Mary’s. Deandre Thomas was leading the way at this point with seven points.

The rest of the half would see both teams trade buckets for the most part. But there was something in the way the Mountaineers were playing. They were winning the loose ball battle, hitting timely shots, and keeping the run and gun offense of TSU at bay.

When the teams went into their locker rooms for the half, the Mountaineers were up 30-20. They had balanced scoring with seven of the eight players that played in the scoring column. They held TSU to zero fast break points for the half and 27% shooting from the floor. Michael Weathers was 2-9 from the floor but some of those were good shots that just did not fall.

Walker began the second half for TSU just like he started the game. He hit the first six points to cut the lead to four at 30-26. The Tigers came out in more control of the tempo and were doing what they could not do in the first half. Jordan Gilliam hit a huge three with 16:45 to go during an 11-0 run and TSU was back in the lead 31-30 forcing the Mountaineers into a timeout.

The Mountaineers would stop the bleeding and finally score their first points of the half on two free throws by Deandre Thomas. Buckets by Josh Reaves and Mezzie Offurum gave Mount a six-point lead at 37-31. Just like that, they settled down and took back the momentum for the moment.

As the second half reached the halfway point, the pace slowed as both teams were trying their best not to let the game get away from them. A 12-2 run by TSU gave them the lead at 43-40 with 8:44 left in the game. Jordan Gilliam was having a big second half to this point scoring eight of his ten points.

Damian Chong Qui, quiet for most of the game, started to come to life. He hit three free throws and followed those up with a jumper and a three to make it 52-50 TSU with 2:53 left in the game. Walker did his part to keep TSU in the lead and when Joirdon Karl slammed home a miss, it was 54-50 TSU with 2:06 left.

A hard-fought game would go down to the wire and the Tigers of Texas Southern would hold on for the 60-52 win and move on to the next game. Walker led the way for the Tigers getting 19 points on 8-14 shooting and added nine rebounds. Weathers had a rough game going 3-11 for eight points, but added six rebounds and four assists.

Now, David must go against Goliath as the Texas Southern will have to play top seed Michigan Saturday afternoon. After the game coach, Johnny Jones and John Walker talked about the team’s big win and the task at hand they face this weekend.

Check out the post-game press conference below:

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