• Texas Southern wraps up its two-game homestand and non-conference play against Huston-Tillotson on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
• Despite its proximity from each other, TSU will face HTU for only the third time since 2019 as the teams last met in 2022.
• The Rams were picked seventh in the HBCU Athletic Conference Preseason Poll as this marks their first year in the league. The Rams lead the league in blocked shots with 5.7 per game while only having in scorer in double digits in Jaylen Streeter (10.7). On the boards, Shannon Robinson leads the team with 5.2 rebounds per game while Kemondreon Cansler has 17 blocks. The team is currently 0-4 in league play.
• Texas Southern fell in the first round of the 2025 SWAC Tournament to Alabama State.
• TSU returns two starters from last season and 10 letterwinners as they lost five lettermen. The Tigers added seven newcomers to its roster in the offseason as five were added via the transfer portal. Senior guard Zaire Hayes was named to the 2025-26 Preseason All-SWAC basketball team after a career junior campaign which saw him finish second on the team with 10.3 points per game while finishing second on the team with 47 three-pointers made. He also shot 46 percent from the field and 84 percent from the free throw line.
• Senior Troy Hupstead made his TSU debut on Nov. 6 and has averaged 14 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. TSU graduate guard Bryce Roberts is two points shy of 1,000 career points which spans from his two years in junior college and three seasons on the NCAA Divison I and II levels.
• Graduate guard Zaire Hayes made his 2025-26 debut six weeks ago against Samford as he averages 10 points per contest. Hayes is a 2025-26 Preseason All-SWAC Selection.
• TSU, which is led by eighth-year head coach Johnny Jones, enters the 2025-26 season looking to earn its eighth NCAA Tournament bid over the past 13 years. TSU finished fourth in the SWAC last
season and picked to finish fifth this year.
• TSU made its fifth consecutive postseason under Jones in 2024 and participated in three straight NCAA Tournaments from 2021-23. Head coach Johnny 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 91-66 all-time in the month of December and 13-26 at TSU.
