Kansas Jayhawks will play one of these two Texas teams in NCAA Tournament first round
Kansas’ men’s basketball team will have to wait until Tuesday night to learn if it will be playing Texas Southern or Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The two Texas schools are matched in a play-in game at 5:40 p.m. Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio, the winner advancing to a first-round Midwest Regional battle against the No. 1 seed Jayhawks at 8:57 p.m. Thursday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Both games are on truTV.
Texas Southern Tigers
Texas Southern (18-12) is led by former LSU head coach Johnny Jones. The Tigers qualified by beating Alcorn State 87-62 in the SWAC Tournament finals on Saturday. During the regular season, TSU compiled a 13-5 mark in SWAC play.
Here’s how Texas Southern fared against some bigger schools this past season: The Tigers, who were 0-7 at the time, shocked No. 20-ranked Florida 69-54 on Dec. 6 in Gainesville, Florida.
Prior to that game, the Tigers lost at Oregon (83-66), at Saint Mary’s (67-58), at Washington (72-65), at Air Force (61-57), at North Carolina State (65-57) at BYU (81-64) and at Louisiana Tech (87-60).
In beating Florida, Texas Southern became the first SWAC team to defeat a ranked opponent from the SEC. It marked the Tigers’ first win over a ranked team since an 89-84 win at Oregon on Nov. 26, 2018 and its second win over a ranked team since 2014. Texas Southern beat No. 25 Michigan State, 71-64, in overtime on Dec. 20, 2014 in East Lansing, Michigan. This marks the school’s 10th NCAA appearance.
Ten of the 17 players on the Tigers’ roster hail from Texas. Not one player averages double-digits in scoring.
John Walker, a 6-foot-9, 200-pound senior forward, leads the team in scoring at 9.6 points per game
CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander, who has ranked the 68 teams in the tournament, currently has Texas Southern at No. 67.
“For the sixth time in the past eight NCAA Tournaments, the Tigers are the team out of the SWAC,” Norlander wrote. “Johnny Jones’ team is 13-2 since Jan. 18. No team is deeper than the Tigers. The bench plays 46.5% of the team’s minutes, which ranks No. 1 at KenPom. Everybody gets a taste of some sugar on this group, which is coached by a grizzled vet in Johnny Jones.”
Jones, who is 75-51 in four seasons at Texas Southern, said to Mark Berman of Fox 26, KRIV: “Its just tremendous in what our guys play for … the city of Houston, for the great institution, the community in which we sit and for each other. For these guys to have an opportunity to go out and fight each and every day knowing they are responsible for holding something so dear and so special, Texas Southern, at a high standard and to be able to play the way they have to be rewarded with a championship, it means a great deal — for the city for the community, in which we live and for our great university. (I) couldn’t be happier for em.”
KU is 4-0 all-time against Texas Southern, all of the meetings in Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas won, 67-65, on Dec. 2, 1981; 101-64, on Jan. 11, 1984; 78-74 in overtime on Jan. 3, 1985 and 114-71 on Nov, 21, 2017.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which is led by former Purdue assistant Steve Lutz, qualified by beating Southeastern Louisiana 73-65 in the finals of the Southland Conference Tournament. A&M-Corpus Christi went 23-11 overall and 7-7 in league regular-season games.
The Islanders this year lost games at Minnesota (79-71) and at Notre Dame (83-73).
The Islanders have two double-digit point producers. Junior forward Isaac Mushila averages 13.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, while junior guard Trevian Tennyson averages 11.8 points per game. Junior guard Terrion Murdix averages 9.8 points per game.
This marks the Islanders’ second NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2006-07, when it lost as a No. 15 seed to No. 2 seed Wisconsin 76-63.
“Under first-year Islanders coach Lutz, A&M-Corpus Christi has more-than quadrupled its win total from last season when it finished 5-19 overall. It marked the largest year-to-year turnaround in program history,” wrote Norlander, who ranked Corpus Christi No. 68 of 68 teams in the tourney.
“You’ll hear a lot about the power-conference first-year coaches who brought their teams to the Dance, but let’s give it up for former Purdue assistant Steve Lutz. He’s been with this team for less than a year, but here they are, champs of the Southland. It’s Corpus Christi’s first NCAA appearance since 2007. This group struggles on offense and may well be a one-and-done, but it’s teams like this one who cherish their tournament run as much as anyone. It’s also why this is the best event in American sports. You have schools like this and schools like Duke and Kentucky playing in the same bracket. The best,” Norlander added.
KU is 1-0 all-time versus A&M-Corpus Christi. KU won, 82-41, on Nov. 23, 2010 at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks will meet a play-in game winner for the third time. In 2007, No. 1 seed KU beat Niagara 107-67 in the first round after Niagara beat Florida A&M. In 2017, No. 1 seed KU beat UC Davis after UC Davis beat North Carolina A&T 100-62.
