Braves Set For Three Games In El Paso at Jim Forbes Classic

EL PASO, Texas – The Braves are looking to make their return to the Lone Star State as effective as the last outing, as Alcorn (2-1) is set to kick-off a three-game week at the Jim Forbes Classic Presented by Speaking Rock. Heading into UTEP's Don Haskins Center this week, the Braves are coming off back-to-back high-profile road victories at Wichita State and Stephen F. Austin. Alcorn is slated to face the trio of UTEP (Nov. 22, 8 p.m. CT), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Nov. 23, 5 p.m. CT) and CSU Bakersfield (Nov. 25, 12 p.m. CT). GAME 1: Alcorn State Braves (2-1) at UTEP (2-1)
WHEN: Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 8:00 p.m. CT
WHERE: Don Haskins Center (El Paso, Texas)
TICKETS: $9.15 - $42.00
LIVE STATS: UTEP Athletics
LISTEN LIVE: UTEPMiners.com (UTEP)
WATCH LIVE VIDEO: Miner TV
 
GAME 2: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-1) vs. Alcorn State Braves (2-1)
WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 23, at 5:00 p.m. CT
WHERE: Don Haskins Center (El Paso, Texas)
TICKETS: Purchase of Ticket vs. UTEP Covers 11/23, 11/25 Games
LIVE STATS: TAMU-CC / KEYS 1440
LISTEN LIVE: UTEPMiners.com (UTEP)
LIVE STREAM (No Commentary):  UTEP YouTube

GAME 3: Alcorn State Braves (2-1) vs. CSU Bakersfield (2-1)
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 25, at 12:00 p.m. CT
WHERE: Don Haskins Center (El Paso, Texas)
TICKETS: Purchase of Ticket vs. UTEP Covers 11/23, 11/25 Games
LIVE STATS: TAMU-CC / KEYS 1440
LIVE STREAM (No Commentary):  UTEP YouTube
 

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IN THE RANKINGS
Alcorn is not ranked in the latest Associated Press or USA TODAY Coaches Poll Top 25 poll. Neither UTEP, TAMU-CC or CSUB are ranked in the latest Associated Press or USA TODAY Coaches Poll Top 25 poll. None of the teams received any votes in these preseason polls. After earning the 2021-22 Regular Season Champion title, Alcorn received two (2) No. 1 picks and was picked No. 2 in Preseason Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Predicted Order of Finish. UTEP was picked eighth of 11 teams in the C-USA Men's Basketball Preseason Poll. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was picked No. 1 in the 10-team Southland Men's Basketball Preseason Poll. CSU Bakersfield was chosen at No. 8 among 11 teams in the Big West Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with everything Alcorn Men's Basketball this year by following the Braves' hoops social media platforms. You can follow @BravesMBB on Instagram and @Alcorn_St_MBB on Twitter.

SERIES VS. THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
This is the 11th meeting between the Braves and Miners with UTEP leading the series, 9-1. The last meeting was in 2014-15 in the Sun Bowl Tournament with a 78-45 UTEP win. This will be the fourth meeting between the Braves and Islanders, with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi leading 3-0. The last meeting was in 2004-05 in Corpus Christi, with TAMU-CC winning 85-41. This will be the inaugural meeting between CSU Bakersfield and Alcorn.

Alcorn Head Coach Landon Bussie is in his third season and has a record of 25-31 with the Braves (25-31 career). UTEP Head Coach Joe Golding is in his second season leading the Miners with a 22-15 record (180-159 career). TAMU-CC Head Coach Steve Lutz is in his second season leading the Islanders with a record of 26-13 in his first head coaching role. CSUB Head Coach Rod Barnes is in his 12th season guiding the Roadrunners and has a record of 173-172 in Bakersfield (359-361 in 24 career seasons).

LAST TIME OUT FOR THESE TOURNAMENT TEAMS
ALCORN
Making that back-to-back victories on the road termed upsets, the Braves used the momentum from defeating Wichita State to go into the Sawmill at Nacogdoches, Texas and triumph over Stephen F. Austin, 69-60. The Braves overcame a slow-scoring start and grabbed their first lead at the 10:16 mark of the first half on a Trevin Wade to Dontrell McQuarter long-range alley-oop. Leaning on strong offensive rebounding, the Braves claimed the lead for good on Dominic Brewton's driving layup with 7:05 to go in the opening period – taking a 28-24 lead into the break.
 
Nearly completely limiting SFA's top scorers, the Braves turned up the heat in the second half to maintain their advantage. Back-to-back scoring possessions for Jeremiah Kendall and Dekedran Thorn provided the first double-digit Alcorn lead at 53-43 and Byron Joshua jumped in to thrice maintain the lead at 11 as time slipped down around five minutes remaining. Brewton delivered a final dagger to extend the lead to 13 with 1:22 to go as Alcorn reeled off its second consecutive road win, moving the record to 2-1 for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
 
Holding things down for the Braves early, Brewton scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half to lead all Braves – along with seven rebounds. Kendall paced Alcorn with eight rebounds, on top of 11 points. McQuarter scored 11 and Thorn put up 10 for the fourth player in double figures.
 
UTEP
After taking on 12th-ranked Texas and a winning a close one over New Mexico State, the Miners' schedule provided some relaxation, topping Division III foe Sul Ross State, 99-59 on Nov. 15.
 
The Miners registered a school-record 24 steals and saw five players in double figures – helped along by 44 points off 32 Lobo turnovers. Lighting up the scoreboard, UTEP shot 59.1 percent from the floor. The Lobos kept things a bit close early, but a 10-0 run for the Miners over a four-minute stretch blew the lead up to 29-13 en route to a 40-point victory.
 
Otis Frazier III scored 23 points to lead all scorers, hitting 9-of-11 and racking up four steals. Kevin Kalu and Jamari Sibley each scored 13 points, while Ze'Rik Onyema chipped in 11 and Carlos Lemus logged 10. Onyema paced the Miners on the glass with seven rebounds. Six different player had at least three steals in the victory. 


TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
The Islanders reeled off their third consecutive win in six days with a 97-75 toppling of UT Rio Grande Valley on Nov. 17 at home. It was a wire-to-wire victory for TAMU-CC after shooting 48.6 percent from the floor and forcing 25 turnovers – collecting 14 steals and scoring 30 points off turnovers.
 
The Islanders took command early, growing an eight-point advantage in the first five minutes and reaching double-digits with 13:20 on the first-half clock. The Vaqueros ended the half on a 10-3 run to trim the deficit, but still trailed 47-38 at the intermission.
 
The Islanders blew things open quickly in the second half, growing their lead to 20 points with 12:17 remaining, then again at 7:20. Down the stretch, the Vaqueros couldn't make up any ground on the deficit, leading to the final buzzer score of 97-75 after TAMU-CC led by double-figures for the final 19:20 of the game.
 
The Islanders pulled down 14 offensive rebounds compared to UTRGV's five. It led to a big 24-4 advantage in second chance points.
 
Although the Vaqueros shot 65 percent from the floor, their turnovers proved to be too costly. Leading TAMU-CC, Ross Williams put up 24 points, including six three-pointers on .545 long-range shooting. Trevian Tennyson added another 20 points while shooting 70 percent. Terrion Murdix paced the squad with six assists on top of his 13 points. Isaac Mushila scored just five, but topped the Islanders with eight rebounds on the night.
 
CSU BAKERSFIELD
The Roadrunners are coming off a Wednesday-night victory over Idaho on the road, a low-scoring triumph of 52-43 over the Vandals. Although the Roadrunners used an 8-0 first half run to push ahead 12-5 and hold the lead for nearly the entire half – the Vandals still remained within striking distance. As the half wound down, CSUB built its lead back to seven, but back-to-back Idaho three-pointers cut it to a single point with 1:24 to go – leading to a 22-21 CSUB lead at the break.
 
The pendulum swayed the other way early in the second half, as Idaho outscored CSUB 9-2 in the first six minutes of the period to go on top 30-24. Once the 'Runners got moving, the momentum quickly shifted, building up to a 14-point advantage at 6:46. Outscoring Idaho 30-22 in the second half, CSUB came out on top, 52-43.
 
Kaleb Higgins knocked down two key three-pointers and 14 of his team-leading 18 points in the second half. Ivan Reynolds was the only other CSUB player in double figures, putting up 10. Cameron Smith and Antavion Collum combined for 10 points and each grabbed seven boards.

LAST SEASON FOR THESE TOURNAMENT TEAMS
Alcorn completed the 2021-22 season as the SWAC Regular Season Champion with a 17-17 overall record and 14-4 SWAC mark, reaching the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) for the third time (previously 1979 & 1985). UTEP went 20-14 with an 11-7 C-USA mark, playing two games in the Basketball Classic after getting bumped from the conference tournament. TAMU-CC went 23-12 with a 7-7 Southland record, reaching the NCAA Tournament after downing Southeastern Louisiana in the conference title game. CSUB went 8-19 with a 2-12 Big West mark, advancing to the second round of the conference championships.

KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR THESE TOURNAMENT TEAMS
Alcorn
Soph. Guard Dominic Brewton: 13.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.0 spg, .436 FG%
r-Soph. Forward Keondre Montgomery: 12.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.5 spg, .471 FG%
Grad Guard Trevin Wade: 10.5 ppg, 2 stl, 6 ast, .533 FG%
Soph. Guard Byron Joshua: 10.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.3 apg, 2.0 spg, .360 FG%
 
UTEP
Soph. Forward Otis Frazier III: 12.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.7 spg, .591 FG%
Soph. Forward Ze'Rik Onyema: 11.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, .800 FG%
Jr. Guard Tae Hardy: 10.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.3 spg, .407 FG%
 
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Sr. Forward Isaac Mushila: 15.3 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 2.3 spg, 1.8 apg, .571 FG%
Sr. Guard Trevian Tennyson: 12.8 ppg, .500 FG%
Grad Guard Ross Williams: 11.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.0 spg, .371 FG%, .423 3FG%
Sr. Guard Terrion Murdix: 9.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.8 apg, 3.5 spg, .400 FG%
 
CSU Bakersfield
Jr. Guard Kaleb Higgins: 11.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.0 spg, 3.3 apg, .393 FG%
Jr. Guard/Forward Antavion Collum: 8.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, .345 FG%
Sr. Forward Cameron Smith: 7.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.3 spg, .370 FG%
r-Soph. Forward Modestas Kancleris: 6.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, .500 FG%

Braves Notable News
Defending 2021-22 Achievements
The Alcorn Braves earned the SWAC Regular Season Championship for the first time since 2002 (17 total regular season titles) after notching a 14-4 league record, earning the top spot in the conference tournament seeding. The Braves were bumped out of the field by the eventual winner in the final, two-time champion Texas Southern. For their efforts on the year, Head Coach Landon Bussie was named SWAC Coach of the Year in just his second season with the squad after turning around a 6-13 team from his first season. In year two, the Braves stared down losses in 11 of the first 12 games, but rebounded to finish 17-17 on the year. Prior to taking the ASU helm, Bussie served six seasons at Prairie View A&M serving as an assistant coach. After the 2021-22 season, Bussie was selected to coach in the inaugural HBCU All-Star Game during Final Four week in New Orleans.

Alcorn is Invested in Program Consistency
Alcorn Athletics announced on Oct. 27 that President Felecia M. Nave and Director of Athletics Raynoid Dedeaux have completed an agreement for a contract extension of Head Coach Landon Bussie beyond his current deal and through 2026.

"This shows the commitment they've made to me and the men's basketball program. Hopefully, we can continue to have success in leading the program, and we can make all our administration, student-athletes and alumni proud of the work we do here each and every day. I'm excited about where we're going, and I'm happy to be a Brave," Bussie said. 

Expertise Added to Coaching Staff
During the months leading up to the 2022-23 preseason, Bussie and the Alcorn Braves fortified their coaching staff with the announced hires of two coaches in August 2022.
 
The program first announced assistant coach Ben Mandelbaum was joining Alcorn after serving the previous two seasons as the associate head coach for the men's basketball program at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. Mandelbaum spent two seasons at Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, Florida.
 
Just one week later, ASU raised the bar higher with the announcement of adding veteran coach Cyrus "Cy" Alexander to the staff. A former head coach with 391 career wins across 26 years leading notable HBCU programs such as North Carolina A&T, South Carolina State and Tennessee State. Some of Alexander's distinctions include, but are not limited to, MEAC Coach of the Year and Palmetto State Coach of the Year. He has also been named to the Catawba and South Carolina State Hall of Fames, respectively. In 1996, he was named American Sports Wire National Coach of the Year. 

CATCH THE BRAVES LIVE AT THE WHITNEY IN 2022-23
Season Tickets for the 2022-23 Alcorn men's and women's basketball teams at the Davey L. Whitney Health and Physical Education Complex are now available for purchase at https://alcornsports.myimpacttickets.com/basketball. Season tickets for the home SWAC competitions are $76.25, while single-game admission is $12.65 in advance.

UP NEXT
After three games in El Paso, it's not quite back to Lorman for the Braves, as Alcorn will keep heading west for a Sunday, Nov. 27 meeting at Arizona State, and a second Arizona contest on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at Grand Canyon. The first home contest for the Braves is not scheduled until the start of 2023 when ASU opens SWAC play as host to Jackson State on Jan. at the Davey L. Whitney Health and Physical Education Complex.

Follow Alcorn State Men's Basketball on Twitter (@Alcorn_St_MBB) for all of the latest news and updates. For all Alcorn State Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BravesSports), Instagram (@AlcornSports) and YouTube (Alcorn State Sports).