Men's Basketball | 1/9/2022 1:16:00 PM

 
HOUSTON, Texas – The Mississippi Valley State University men's basketball program will be on the hunt for its first winning streak since February 16-18, 2019, when it heads to H-Town in search of a Lone Star State sweep at Texas Southern.

What You Need to Know 
 

• Time and Date: Monday, January 10 (7:30 p.m.)

 

• Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOi6WntawwV_ZFqC-MMAFpw

 

• Audio: http://www.gwoodlive.com/ (Lee Hall & Joshua Davis)

 

• Live Stats: https://tsusports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

 

• Tickets: https://2ttickets.com/collections/basketball/products/texas-southern-vs-mississippi-valley-state

 

• Records: Mississippi Valley State (1-12, 1-2 SWAC) | Texas Southern (3-9, 1-2 SWAC)

 

• Location: Houston, Texas – H&PE Arena

 

• Series History: Texas Southern Leads 65-45

 

• Last Meeting: February 23, 2021 | Texas Southern 82, Mississippi Valley State 45 | Houston, Texas (H&PE Arena)

 

• Winning Streak: Texas Southern (W8) | Mississippi Valley State's Last Win: January 23, 2017 (103-89)

 
Mississippi Valley State Overview
 
Head Coach Lindsey Hunter's unit has thrived off forcing turnovers, placing 33rd in the nation with an average of 16.69 errors caused per contest and a turnover margin that ranks second in the league (2.4).
 
Robert Carpenter has been the go-to scorer for MVSU, dropping 17.8 points a night to trail only FAMU's M.J. Randolph in the conference who puts up 19.8 on average. He also slots in second in the SWAC for free throw percentage (81.6%), sixth regarding field-goal percentage (38.7%) and three-pointers per game (2.08), and tenth for blocks (1.08).
 
Caleb Hunter is the primary deep threat for the Green and White, although Devin Gordon might have something to say about that after his 32-point, nine-three-pointer explosion Wednesday evening. Hunter ranks fifth in the league with an average of 2.23 makes from downtown.
 
Elijah Davis continues his role of a selfless ballplayer, putting together 3.6 assists per contest and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.57 to place fourth and third respectively, in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Scouting The Opponent: Texas Southern Tigers

The Tigers made national headlines by defeating 20th-ranked Florida on the road in convincing fashion, 69-54 as 23.5-point underdogs. They followed that up with a win at Texas-Rio Grande Valley (70-60) but have dropped two of three to begin SWACtion.

TSU has been a force on the glass this season, leading the conference in rebounds per game (39.73) and rebound margin (6.5) while slotting among the nation's top-50 in both categories.

The six-foot-nine Brison Gresham has been the biggest component of the Tigers' size down low, pulling down 3.30 offensive boards a night to rank top-25 nationally, nabbing eight rebounds a game to place third in the conference, and contributing an average of 1.60 blocks per contest to slot second in the SWAC.

Three student-athletes donning Maroon and Gray currently sport double-digit scoring averages, led by Preseason All-SWAC Second Teamer John Walker III at 11.5, followed by PJ Henry (11.2) and Joirdon Karl Nicholas (11.1).

The men from Houston have had a stranglehold on the series over the past decade, winning eight in-a-row coming into Monday's tilt and 16 of its last 17 against Mississippi Valley since the beginning of the 2012-13 season.

Follow the Delta Devils and Devilettes on Facebook (Mississippi Valley State Athletics), Twitter (@MVSUDevilSports) and Instagram (@MVSUDevilSports).