• Texas Southern men's basketball returns to action Friday night for a road trip at Murray State starting at 7 p.m. in Murray, Ky.
• TSU was picked ninth in the SWAC's Preseason poll as they return four letterwinners. New head coach Corey Lowery retained two coaches from the previous staff while bringing in several new assistants.Â
• This marks the first meeting between both teams since 1990 as they last met at a neutral site event in Arkansas. TSU has not faced a Missouri Valley Conference team since Drake in 2023.
• Newcomer Jason Kimbrough has been on a tear as he ranks second in scoring (15.3 ppg) and leads the team in three-pointers. Cam Patterson is coming of a big night with a 27-point outing and leads TSU with 17 points per game. Fellow backcourt mate Karis Bilal leads TSU with eight steals, free throws made (17) and third in scoring with 12.3 points per game.
• TSU returns one starter from last season and four letterwinners as they lost nine lettermen. The Tigers added seven newcomers to its roster in the offseason as six were added via the transfer portal. Â
• TSU, which is led by first-year head coach Corey Lowery, enters the 2026-27 season looking to earn its eighth NCAA Tournament bid over the past 14 years. TSU finished fourth in the SWAC last season.
• TSU will square off against 11 different leagues (Mountain West, SEC, Missouri Valley, Big West, PAC 12, Southland, UAC, Big East, Sun Belt, Big 10 and American) this season and two non-Division I opponents.
• TSU made five consecutive postseason appearances from 2019-2004 and participated in three straight NCAA Tournaments from 2021-23. In 2018, TSU was 24-14 and had 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.
• Lowery is 6-5 all-time in the month of November and 1-2 at TSU.
