• Texas Southern starts SWAC Tournament play Thursday afternoon against Alabama A&M at 2 p.m. on Thursday inside the Gateway Center Arena in Atlanta, Ga.
• Picked sixth in the preseason poll, AAMU finished tied for fourth with TSU. They rank second in defense in the SWAC (72.4), second in three-point percentage (34.3%), third in opponent rebounds (34.1), fourth in opponent field goal percentage (44.2%), fourth in free throws (74.6%) and third in assists/turnover ratio (1.01). Led by former Grambling State head coach Donte' Jackson, former GSU standout Kintavious Dozier is the top scorer with 14.9 points per game while PJ Eason (6.9) ranks fifth in rebounding and second in blocks (1.5).
• This time of the year is TSU's time to shine. TSU has only lost once lost in the first round of SWAC Tournament play since 2009 (2025) and has played in the title game the past six of eight years as 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19.
• TSU head coach Johnny Jones is 14-0 lifetime against Alabama A&M. TSU has dominated the series against Alabama A&M recently as the Tigers have won 23 straight and 34 of the past 35 match-ups. AAMU's last win over TSU was on Feb. 1, 2014.
• TSU has faced AAMU four times in the postseason over the past nine years (2012, '16, '23, '24). TSU has faced AAMU's Donte' Jackson in postseason play three times since 2022 and is 2-1 against him.
• TSU assistant coach Otis Hughley spent the past three years at Alabama A&M as its head coach while assistant coach Jero Chun-Chieh Yang was also on the staff.
• 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.
• 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 62-41 all-time in the month of March and 32-14 at TSU.
