Texas Southern vs Mount St. Mary’s Pick: First Four, March 18th

Texas Southern vs Mount St. Mary’s Pick – Thursday, March 18th – East Region First Four: Texas Southern finished off the season winning nine straight and 14 of their last 15. They dominated Alcorn State 78-55 in the SWAC Quarters, squeaked by Jackson State in the Semi’s 84-81, before dominating top seed Prairie View 80-61 in the Swac Final. In the final, Karl Nicholas went for 16 points, with 12 rebounds to lead five Tigers in double figures. On the season, the 6’9 junior was their 3rd leading scorer averaging 11.3 points and 7 offensive rebounds per game. Senior guard Michael Weathers leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. John Walker the 3rd is the other Tiger averaging double digits. The Tigers can be sloppy with the ball, turning it over 16 times a game. They score 74.8 points per game, hit 45% from the field and 69.9% from the foul line. They struggle mightily from the perimeter. No one on the team averages over 35%, and as a team, they hit just 27.6% from distance.

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Mount St Mary’s had planned on leaning on Senior Jalen Gibbs to provide offense. When he left the team in December, they initially struggled. But they stuck together behind the excellent play of 5’8 point guard Baltimore native Junior Damian Chong Qui and went all the way to winning the NEC Conference. In the final, they handed Bryant University their only home loss of the season 73-68 as 6.5 point dogs. The diminutive Chong Qui was excellent, scoring 21 points, and adding 8 boards with 5 assists. He averaged 15.1 points, with 4.2 boards and 5.5 assists per game on the season. 6’9 junior Malik Jefferson went for 10 points and 15 rebounds for his 3rd straight double-double. He averaged 8.4 points with 8 offensive boards per game so far this season. The other Mountaineers averaging double digits is 6’9 junior Nana Opoku, who averages 10.7 points with 7.6 rebounds per game. Mount St Mary’s scores just 64.3 points per game, but they are 15th in the nation, allowing just 62.3. They struggle with their shot at times, hitting 42.6% from the field, 33.7% from three, and 67.8% from the stripe.