THE BIG PICTURE
TSU’s schedule about more than wins and losses.
It’s not all about the Benjamins. Texas Southern coach Mike Davis said the Tigers opening the season with 16 straight road games had as much to do with catching the Joneses as chasing the dollars that come from playing big names.
Still, money matters — and for Davis, non-conference wins do not.
“We don’t draw great for home games, and I’m not into winning games just to win games, playing Division II schools or someone you’re not going to make any money on at home,” he said. “If we’re going to play a home game, I’d rather play a Duke or North Carolina, where we can sell out.
“So I’d rather go out on the road and
and give our guys the experience of playing at different arenas around the country, and make eight-hundred to nine-hundred thousand dollars at the same time.”
That philosophy kept them on the road the entire 2016 portion of the 201617 season.
The Tigers didn’t enjoy their first home game until Jan. 14 — four games into Southwestern Athletic Conference play.
It’s also the reason they’re 9-1 in the SWAC after going 4-9 in non-conference.
“It’s all about trying to prepare your team for your conference, especially when you’re in a one-bid league,” Davis said. “There’s only going to be one team from our league going to the (NCAA) tournament, so what’s most important is the way we perform in conference play, not in non-conference.”
Paying off
His approach is working. The Tigers made March Madness by winning the SWAC tourney two of the past three years under Davis, who took Indiana to the 2002 NCAA championship game.
And after losing games to Arizona (85-63), LSU (88-80) and Baylor (89-63) this season, they’re well on their way to a regular-season SWAC title — which guarantees at least a trip to the NIT — with a two-game lead in the loss column on second-place Alcorn State and three on Southern.
Besides, Davis said, playing all those roads games isn’t that difficult. The Tigers are used to it, too. They opened last season with 12 consecutive games away from home, and only went to 16 straight this season because they always alternate the first three SWAC games between home and away.
“Really, if you think about it, it’s not as tough as people think because we only missed five days of classes,” Davis said. “When you play Division I baseball, you’re going to miss 30 days of classes.”
For Davis, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
After playing at places like Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center, Cincinnati’s Fifth Third Arena and TCU’s Scholllmaier Arena, no venue in the SWAC is too big or too bright for the Tigers.
And by playing teams that are equal to or better than them every night, they never had a chance to relax, and develop the bad habits that come from blowing out squads that won’t sniff the NCAAs.
TSU lost eight straight before its SWAC opener — and Davis never flinched.
“We played teams that are tough to beat,” Davis said. “It wouldn’t have mattered where we played Louisville or Cincinnati or Arizona.
“So it doesn’t bother me to lose nonconference games because I know the process, and I try to keep my players away from thinking about whether we win or lose. When we go watch film — even if we won the game — I don’t judge us on whether we won or lost. I look at how we played.”
Davis said the players handled losing well, too.
But now they’re eager to win, even if he’s still thinking big-picture, which hurt them in their only SWAC loss at Mississippi Valley State (103-89).
Guards Zach Lofton (18.1 ppg) and Demontrae Jefferson (14.2 ppg) are their leading scorers, G Kevin Scott is making key all-around contributions, and cenplay, ter Marvin Jones and forward Stephan Bennett are filling the void created by Derrick Griffin’s decision to prepare for the NFL Draft.
“They handled it OK, (but) not how I wanted,” Davis said.
“We’re not where I wanted us because I want us to be a more intense, hard-nosed team than we are right now. The problem is when we come and play in our conference, we want to win again, and if you win and you’re playing bad, you won’t change. You’re going to stick with the same thing.
“So I’m looking for us to get better from that standpoint — because it’s all about going to the tournament.”