Men's Basketball | 3/9/2020 1:47:00 PM

Braves Open 2020 SWAC Championships on the Road at JSU

Alcorn Game Notes | Live Radio

JACKSON, Miss. – For the first time since 2000-01, the Alcorn State University men's basketball program and Jackson State will meet in the postseason as the two square-off at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Williams Assembly Center in the quarterfinals of the SWAC Championships.
 
The fifth-seeded Braves (15-14, 11-7 SWAC) look to avenge a pair of regular season defeats to fourth-seeded JSU (14-17, 11-7 SWAC). Alcorn couldn't find its shot in either game and went 7-for-22 (.318) from three in game one at home, and 4-for-15 (.267) from three in game two on the road.
 
Though, the Braves carry momentum into the tournament after finishing the regular season with wins over Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern. It was the first time Alcorn finished the year with victories over those two teams since 2005-06.
 
Alcorn has four student-athletes averaging in double-figures. All four shoot over 80 percent from the free throw line.
 
Junior Troymain Crosby averages 13.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, and leads the league in free throw percentage with a .846 mark. Crosby also scored a team-high 15.1 points per outing in conference games.
 
Senior Maurice Howard tallies 13.8 points per game and shoots .374 from long range and .861 from the charity stripe. Howard has made more threes than anyone in school history with 276. He also ranks fifth all-time in the Alcorn record book with 339 assists.
 
If the season ended today, senior Deshaw Andrews would break the single-season three-point percentage record in Alcorn history with a league-leading .460 clip. He averages 12.5 points per game. Andrews won SWAC Player of the Week on Jan. 20.
 
Senior Corey Tillery averages 12.7 points per outing and is already No. 2 in Alcorn single-season history in three-pointers made with 86. He's chasing Howard's mark of 95 made last season. The grad-transfer from Tennessee Tech has made at least five three-pointers in six different games this year.
 
Alcorn's leading rebounder is junior Kobe Wilson with 6.0 rebounds per outing. He ranks third in the SWAC in blocks (1.1 bpg) and top-five in offensive rebounds (2.0 orpg).
 
JSU also enters the tournament hot and is riding a four-game winning-streak. Tristan Jarrett ranks second in the league in scoring with 16.9 points per game.
 
Though, it wasn't Jarrett that did the heavy damage against the Braves in the regular season. Alcorn needs to find a way to stop Roland Griffin who recorded 27 points and 12 rebounds in the first game, and 23 points and seven rebounds in the second.
 
JSU was 8-3 at home this year with losses to Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern and Alabama A&M.
 
The game can be heard live on 91.7 FM or wprl.org with Charles Edmond on the call.
 
NOTES
- In the 2000-01 meeting, the third-seeded Braves defeated the sixth-seeded Tigers 102-76 in the first round.
 
- Alcorn's most notable road win of the year came in the first meeting at TSU 95-80. It was TSU's only home loss of the entire season.
 
- Alcorn head coach Montez Robinson is in his fifth season at the helm and carries a 50-40 SWAC record.
 
- The Braves swept four teams this year including Alabama State, Mississippi Valley State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Texas Southern.
 
- Alcorn ranks top-30 in the country in both three-point percentage (.371) and threes made per game (9.2). Individually, Tillery ranks top-25 in threes per game with 3.0.
 
- The Braves finished 11-2 at home this year where they outscored the opposition 1,006-868.
 
- Alcorn led the league in scoring with 75.8 points per game.
 
- Howard and Andrews are both on the Dos Equis 3X3U Watch List. They are 2 of 10 from the SWAC on the list.
 
- Seven different Braves on the roster have recorded a double-double in their career. The list includes Howard, Andrews, Tillery, Crosby, Wilson, senior Devon Brewer and freshman Dominic Brewton.
 
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