Tigers plan to scratch, claw to avoid exit
Jones and players don’t want to be quickly shown door at First Four
Before Texas Southern closed out Prairie View A&M in the championship of the SWAC tournament, winning three games over three days, the Tigers previously had a stretch of seven in 14 days.
It’s been a whirlwind for the Tigers, who draw fellow 16th-seed Mount St. Mary’s at 4:10 p.m. Thursday at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., in the first NCAA Tournament game to be played in two years.
“One team will be the first to go home,” third-year TSU coach Johnny Jones said. “We’re going to be fighting to make sure we’re not that group.”
Tigers point guard Michael Weathers, the SWAC Newcomer of the Year and conference tournament most valuable player, wants to move on.
“It’s a blessing to be here and part of 68 teams that have taken the right steps to get here and we’re one of those teams,” Weathers said. “We got so much more to do. We’re not ready to go home yet.”
Thursday’s winner earns the right to go against East Region top-seed Michigan on Saturday.
In making its ninth tournament appearance, TSU (16-8) is back for the first time since 2018. That year under coach Mike Davis the Tigers won a First Four game, knocking off North Carolina Central 64-46.
The Tigers are playing extremely well, having won their past nine and 14 of 15. That was clearly evident in last week’s conference tournament in Birmingham, Ala., with the Tigers eliminating Jackson State and Prairie View, two teams that went unbeaten in league play.
Weathers was the star at Bartow Arena. His 3-pointer as time expired sent the semifinal contest to overtime against Jackson State, part of his 30-point performance. In OT against JSU, Weathers again hit a clutch 3 that gave TSU the lead for good in the final minute.
A cohesive squad, the Tigers don’t rely strictly on Weathers, an Oklahoma State transfer who leads the team in scoring (16.5 points per game). Karl Nicholas at 6-9 is a high field-goal percentage shooter inside to go along with John Walker III. Nicholas averages 11.3 points and 7.0 rebounds. Walker’s numbers are 11.9 and 5.4.
As the floor general, it’s Weathers’ job to keep things flowing on the court.
“We know coming into this game, the job’s not finished,” Weathers said. “There’s no celebrating. There’s no looking past that next opponent. We have to focus on the opponent that’s in front of us. To do that, we have to stay focused. We’ve been doing a great job of being locked in these last few days on what we need to do.”
Jones said the Tigers are eager to start off the NCAA Tournament.
“They’ve been ready to go for a while,” Jones said. “Over the last few weeks, they’ve displayed that on the court and they continue to get better and we still have room for improvement. And that’s needed at this level because everybody in the tournament to get here has been playing a certain way, and we feel we’re one of those teams and we fit.
“The beauty of it is I think there’s another layer for these guys.”
Jones, who believes he has a team built for tournament play, understands the magnitude of Thursday’s First Four outing and what a win would bring to the program.
“It would be as important as what we did on Saturday,” Jones said. “On Saturday, we were crowned conference tournament champs for the right to go and represent our league. Now we’re on to the next phase and that’s trying to win our next game. And that will be huge and if we’re fortunate enough to win that one we’ll play on Saturday, which would be Michigan.”