LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor
State
Men’s and women’s tournament champions from the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference and Southwestern Athletic Conference enter play this week in the NCAA Div. I basketball championships with different tasks ahead of them.
MEAC men’s champion Norfolk State and SWAC men’s champ Texas Southern will be involved in winnable First Four games Thursday at the bubble in Indiana looking for opportunities to take on regional top seeds on Saturday.
MEAC women’s champion North Carolina A&T and SWAC champion Jackson State will begin their quests with highly-seeded teams in their opening round games at the ladies bubble in Texas on Sunday.
For head coaches Robert Jones of Norfolk State, Johnny Jones of Texas Southern and Tomekia Reed of Jackson State, this will be the first time leading their respective teams into battle in the NCAA Tournament. NC A&T’s Tarrell Robinson will be taking his third Lady Aggies team to the tourney.
MEN
Texas Southern (16-8) will be the first to take the court when it faces Northeast Conference tournament champion Mount Saint Mary’s (12-10) on Thursday at 4:10 p.m. in an East Regional opener in Indianapolis. The game will be televised on truTV. The winner will play top seed Michigan (20-4) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
This is the first meeting between TSU and The Mount and TSU’s ninth trip to the tournament. While this is third-year head coach Johnny Jones’ first time leading TSU, it is his fourth trip to the Big Dance after leading LSU to one appearance and North Texas to two others.
TSU features four double-figure scorers led by 6-3 senior Michael Weathers (16.5 ppg.), the SWAC Tournament MVP, 6-9 redshirt junior John Walker III (12.1) and fellow 6-9 junior Karl Nicholas (11.3). Nicholas also gets 7.0 rebounds per game.
Five-eight point guard Damian Chong Qui (15.1 ppg.) and 6-9 center Nana Opoku (10.3, 7.0 rpg.) lead the Mountaineers who knocked off top seed Bryant for the Northeast tournament title. Chong Qui, a junior, is known as a dynamic closer. Head coach Dan Engelstad is in his second year leading MSMU and is making his first trip to the tournament. The Mount has been to the tournament five times, most recently in 2017.
Eighth-year head coach Robert Jones takes the Spartans of Norfolk State (16-7) into the tournament for the first time since their Cinderella run in 2012. Their First Four match up is with Sun Belt tournament champion Appalachian State (17-11) Thursday night (8:40 p.m.) at Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The game will be shown on tru TV. The winner gets to take on the tournament’s top seed, Gonzaga (26-0) on Saturday at 6.20 p.m. in Indianapolis.
App State, led by second-year head coach Dustin Kerns, won two overtime games and four games in four days in the Sun Belt tournament including beating top seed Georgia State in the title game. This will be ASU’s first tournament appearance since 2000 and first date ever vs. NSU. The Mountaineers start a four guard line-up featuring Adrian Delph (13.2 ppg.), Justin Forrest (13.0) and Michael Almoncy (12.9) and Donovan Gregord (10.7). Almoncy had 32 points in the win over Georgia State.
Backcourt mates Devante Carter (15.5 ppg.) and MEAC Tournament MVP Joe Bryant Jr. (11.6) top the scoring chart for the Spartans. Carter also leads NSU in rebounds (5.3) and assists (4.2) per game.
The teams have one common opponent. NSU beat NC Wesleyan 80-58 on Jan. 13 while ASU prevailed 81-57 in early December.
WOMEN
SWAC ladies champion Jackson State (18- 5) earned a 15th seed in the River Walk Region of the women’s tournament and will face Big 12 champion and 2nd-seed Baylor (22-2) in Sunday’s first round in San Antonio (3 p.m.).
While the seeding disparity between the two is great, their performances against a common opponent are somewhat similar. Baylor beat SWAC member Southern 86-52 on Dec. 16. JSU handled Southern 62-42 on Jan. 11 and again on Feb. 8, 59-49.
This is JSU’s Tomekia Reed’s first trip to the tourney in three seasons at JSU. Baylor’s Hall of Fame head coach Kim Mulkey conversely is making her 19th trip to the tournament. Her Lady Bears are the reigning national champions and have won two other national titles while she has piled up over 600 career wins. Her team is led by 6-2 junior forward NaLyssa Smith (18.1 ppg., 9.1 rpg.) and 5-11 guard Dijonal Carrington (13.5). Two others score in double-digits.
JSU’s 5-4 senior guard Dayzsha Rogan, the SWAC Tournament MVP and player of the year, led the SWAC in scoring at 17.2 ppg. Six-four senior center Ameshya Williams posted 16 double-doubles while averaging 15.9 points and 12.0 rebounds. The game will be shown on ABC.
In N. C. A&T’s fifth tournament appearance, Robinson will lead the Lady Aggies (14-2) against in-state opponent North Carolina State (20-2), the ACC champion and top seed in the Mercado Region, Sunday at 4 p.m. ESPN will carry the game.
A&T last faced NC State to open the 2019 season falling to the Wolfpack 80-44 in Raleigh. This season the teams have two common opponents – North Carolina Central and Elon. NC State beat NCCU 108-70 on Nov. 29 and defeated Elon 76-47 on Dec. 9. A&T posted 87-57 and 82-72 wins over NCCU on Feb. 13 and 14 and defeated Elon 80-64 on Dec. 20.
Seventh-year head coach Wes Moore’s fourth NCAA team at NCSU has four players that score in double digits led by Elissa Cunane (16.8 ppg.), 6-foot sophomore Jakia Brown Turner (13.6) and 6-1 senior Kayla Jones (12.3). Cunane, a 6-5 junior center and ACC Tourney MVP, also grabs a team-leading 8.2 rebounds per game.
Senior Deja Winters, whose late 3-pointer propelled NC A&T to the MEAC title, is the top scorer at 14.9 points per game. Chanin Scott (13.7 ppg., team best 8.7 rpg.) and freshman guard Sean Kelly Darks (10.8) are the other double-figure scorers.