Texas Southern rallies, takes First 4 opener

John Walker III scored a season-high 19 points and Jordan Gilliam had 12 to help Texas Southern erase a 10-point halftime deficit Thursday and beat Mount St. Mary’s 60-52 in the first NCAA Tournament game in nearly two years.

It’s the second straight First Four victory for the Tigers (17-8), who also won in 2018 — their most recent tournament appearance.

Texas Southern, the No. 16 seed in the East Region, won its 10th straight game and will next face top-seeded Michigan (20-4) on Saturday.

Walker also matched his career high with nine rebounds.

Damian Chong Qui scored 14 points and Mezie Offurum had 10 points and 16 rebounds for the Mountaineers (12-11), who fell to 1-9 in tourney play.

It was the first NCAA Tournament game since Virginia beat Texas Tech in OT to win the national championship on April 8, 2019 — a span of 710 days.

And the atmosphere inside Indiana University’s Assembly Hall in Bloomington was alien to the event known as March Madness. Only players, coaches and staff members were permitted on the court level and an estimated 150 people sat in the cavernous lower bowl.

Top Yellow Jackets player out: Georgia Tech star Moses Wright, the ACC player of the year, will miss the ninth-seeded Yellow Jackets’ first-round game against No. 8 seed Loyola Chicago on Friday night, ESPN reported Wednesday night.

Wright also likely will be out if Tech win and advances to face the winner of No. 1 seed Illinois-No. 16 Drexel.

A 6-foot-9 senior big man, Wright was playing as well as anyone in the country over the last few weeks of the regular season. He had 26 points and 10 rebounds against Virginia Tech, followed by 31 points and 16 rebounds against Syracuse, then he went for 29 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in a win over Duke.

Wright has averaged 17.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 blocks per game.