Men's Basketball | 1/31/2020 10:41:00 AM

Winning-Streaks Collide Saturday Between Alcorn and Southern

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BATON ROUGE, La. – A pair of five-game winning-streaks are at stake Saturday when the Alcorn State University men's basketball program squares off with Southern at 5:30 p.m. at F.G. Clark Activity Center.
 
Alcorn (10-9, 6-2 SWAC) began its streak by defeating Grambling State, while Southern (8-13, 5-3 SWAC) kicked it off with a victory over Jackson State. Both teams then swept weekends against Mississippi Valley State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Alabama A&M and Alabama State.
 
The only difference in the records between the two teams was an Alcorn victory at Texas Southern, while the Jaguars fell to the Tigers. TSU's only loss in conference has been to the Braves.
 
In addition to Alcorn's five-game winning-streak overall, the program is also on a three-game road winning-streak.
 
Alcorn's most recent victories came this past weekend where it pulled out a pair of thrillers over AAMU and ASU. The Braves made defensive stands in the closing seconds to win both games by one possession. Junior Troymain Crosby hit the go-ahead basket with under a minute left in both contests.
 
Alcorn has four student-athletes averaging in double-figures. It includes senior Maurice Howard, who scores 17.3 points per game in conference. All four of Alcorn's double-figure scorers shoot over 80 percent from the free throw line.
 
Andrews is second on the team in scoring with 13.1 points per game. He won SWAC Player of the Week on Jan. 20 after the sweep at MVSU and UAPB. He averaged 24.0 ppg, shot 15-for-23 (.652) from the field and was nearly perfect from the charity stripe (9-of-10) that week. Andrews netted a career-high 30 points in the victory over the Golden Lions.
 
Senior Corey Tillery scores 13.0 points per outing and is already tied for eighth in Alcorn single-season history in three-pointers made with 58. The grad-transfer from Tennessee Tech has made at least five three-pointers in four different games this year.
 
Crosby averages 12.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He submitted a career-high 27 points at MVSU.
 
Alcorn's leading rebounder is junior Kobe Wilson with 6.1 rebounds per outing. He ranks third in the SWAC in blocks (1.0 bpg) and top-five in offensive rebounding (2.2 orpg). Wilson has swatted seven blocks in the last four games.
 
Something will have to give between Alcorn and Southern this weekend, as the Braves lead the league in scoring with 77.3 points per game, but the Jaguars rank first in scoring defense at 67.8 points per outing. Additionally, Alcorn leads the conference in three-point percentage (.393), but Southern is first in three-percentage defense in conference (.250).
 
The Jaguars a very balanced scoring attack. Despite not having a student-athlete averaging in double-figures, they have eight scoring at least six points per game. In conference games only, Ahsante Shivers averages 10.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
 
The game can be heard live for free on 91.7 FM or wprl.org with Charles Edmond on the call.
 
NOTES
- The Braves rank seventh in the country in three-point field goal percentage (.393). They are also 12th nationally in threes made per game (10.1) and 23rd in steals (8.8 spg).
- Alcorn has not been outrebounded in conference this year.
 
- Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson is in his fifth season at the helm. He carries a 45-35 SWAC record and is 6-3 against Southern.
 
- The Braves have been a second half team this year. They've outscored the opposition 767-679 in the second half.
 
- Alcorn is 8-0 (4-0 SWAC) when it scores at least 80 points in a game. The team is also 9-0 (5-0 SWAC) when leading at halftime.
 
- Howard has made more threes than anyone in school history with 261. He also ranks fifth in the school record book in assists with 295. Howard has scored 1,240 career points with a career-high of 31 at Texas Southern this year.

- Howard ranks 21st in the nation in three-point percentage with a .430 clip.
 
- Andrews leads the SWAC and ranks top-25 in the country in free throw percentage with a .881 mark.
 
- Six different Braves on the roster have recorded a double-double in their career. The list includes Howard, Andrews, Tillery, Crosby, Wilson and senior Devon Brewer.
 
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