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• Texas Southern closes out its final home game of 2024-25 at 7 p.m. on Monday inside the H&PE Arena. against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
• TSU is coming off a big win over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday. TSU is currently logged in a four-way tie for third at this point.
• Texas Southern fell in the finals of the 2024 SWAC Tournament last season and participated in the CIT as they fell to Tarleton State in the opening round.
• TSU returns two starters from last season and eight letterwinners as they lost seven lettermen. The Tigers added seven newcomers to its roster in the offseason as six were added via the transfer portal. The TSU men's basketball duo of Grayson Carter and Kenny Hunter were named to the 2024-25 Preseason All-SWAC Second Team. Hunter was also tabbed the league's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
• UAPB has won six of the past 14 games versus TSU thanks to its home court. UAPB is 8-8 against TSU in Pine Bluff since 2008 as they're 2-14 in Houston over the past 17 games.
• TSU head coach Johnny Jones is 8-5 lifetime against UAPB.
• Picked 10th in the preseason poll, UAPB is currently 11th but is battling for the 10th and final tournament spot. UAPB won its first SWAC game against TSU earlier this month and defeated Prairie View A&M on Saturday as they're one game behind for the final spot.
• TSU, which is led by seventh-year head coach Johnny Jones, has won three-of-the-past four SWAC Tournament Championships and enters the 2024-25 season looking to earn its eighth NCAA Tournament bid over the past 12 years.
• TSU made its fourth consecutive postseason under Jones and third straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022-23. Jones went 24-14 in his inaugural year as head coach with three Power 5 conference wins. TSU fell in the finals of the 2019 SWAC Tournament and advanced to the semifinals of the CIT in 2019. In 2019-20, the Tigers made it back to the semifinals of the SWAC Tournament after a third-place regular season finish but saw the season end abruptly due to COVID-19. TSU won the SWAC Tournament and First Four contest in 2021 and was the first SWAC team to beat a ranked opponent from the SEC in 2021 at Florida. TSU claimed another Power 5 non-conference win against Arizona State in 2022.
• Jones is 101-86 all-time in the month of February and 33-16 at TSU.
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Source: https://tsusports.com/news/2025/2/24/mens-basketball-hosts-uapb-in-home-finale-monday-night.aspx