JSU Basketball squads to put undefeated conference records on the line against Prairie View

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - It has been a tale of two seasons for Jackson State Men’s Basketball under first-year head coach and NBA champion Mo Williams.

The Tigers had a brutal nonconference schedule to begin the season, including trips to face Michigan, then ranked Indiana, No. 4 ranked Alabama, and away games against Texas Tech and TCU; along with a neutral site game against formerly ranked Mississippi State.

JSU entered conference play with a 1-12 record, the second worst in the conference. However, the Tigers have completely flipped the script for a season that looked like a lost cause.

Jackson State now sees itself on a 3-game win-streak thanks to an undefeated start to conference play, including a buzzer-beater win against in-state rivals Alcorn State at their home court and a victory against Coach Mo’s former employer, Alabama State. JSU is currently second in the conference standings with a 3-0 record against SWAC opposition.

The hot start to SWAC play didn’t come as a surprise for Coach Mo and his hometown team, who says the difficult schedule has prepared them for the second half of the season.

“These first three [SWAC] games were hard-fought games when we gotta convert at the end and make plays at the end of the game,” Coach Mo said. “I’m a firm believer that our nonconference schedule prepared us for these games.”

Having hosted just two games all season on Jackson State’s home floor, the Lee E. Williams Athletic and Assembly Center, the Tigers will leave the capital city once again and put their undefeated SWAC record on the line to take on the Prairie View A&M Panthers in Texas Saturday.

For the Tigers to continue their undefeated conference run, JSU will have to play disciplined defense to keep the Panthers away from the charity stripe as the Panthers have converted the second-most free throws in the SWAC, averaging just over 13 points from free throws a game. Prairie View attempts 19 free throws per game, fourth most in the conference, and has a team percentage of just over 70% in free throw makes, which is third in the conference.

The contest between JSU and Prairie View is scheduled for Saturday inside of William Nicks Building. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.

Head women’s basketball coach Tomekia Reed and the Lady Tigers will put their flawless 3-0 conference record on the line against the Prairie View women on Saturday as well.

The Lady Tigers driven by their suffocating defense have beaten their last two conference opponents by a combined 70 points.

Coach Reed and JSU sit at a 6-7 overall record with impressive nonconference wins against Louisiana and Texas Tech on their resume and are the No. 1 team in SWAC standings.

The Lady Tigers rank among the top 3 in just about every major statistical category among fellow SWAC teams and lead the conference in blocks per game and free throw percentage, averaging an impressive 4.6 blocks per game while converting 70 percent of their free throws.

Coach Reed’s Tigers will look to suffocate the conference’s best statistical offense of the Lady Panthers who average just under 69 points a game and are the best in the conference at sharing the rock, averaging 13.4 assists a game.

The Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. inside of William Nicks Building.

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