Southern Jaguars
SWAC (22-12, 11-7)
Southern had a great January and early February. At one point they reeled off eight wins in a row and 10 of 11. They went into a three game road stretch starting on February 20th with a shot to win the SWAC title. However, the Jaguars lost all three of those games and four of their last five heading into the SWAC Tournament. That left Coach Roman Banks’ team with an 11-7 record in conference play and the four seed in the tournament. The good news was that one win was over league champions Texas Southern and having that confidence to beat Texas Southern proved useful in the SWAC semifinals where Southern knocked TSU to the NIT. A day later, the Jaguars had a very different game against Jackson State. Normally a high scoring team, Southern had to grind out a 54-53 win to earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Big Wins: 11/16 at Mississippi State (76-72), 12/10 at Wyoming (68-58), 3/11 vs Texas Southern (81-73)
Bad Losses: 2/20 at Alabama State (68-77), 2/22 at Alabama A&M (66-78), 3/5 Prairie View A&M (71-79)
Coach: Roman Banks
Why They Can Surprise:
Southern can hang around with some good teams because they do not beat themselves. The team commits just 11.2 turnovers per game and easily has the best turnover margin in the SWAC. Much of the credit for both of those numbers goes to senior point guard Christopher Hyder. He dishes out 5.0 assists per game while committing just 1.7 turnovers. Hyder also leads the team with 2.4 steals per game. Hyder is not much of a shooter, but he is one of four players on the team that spends a lot of time at the charity stripe. The other three are fellow guards Adrian Rodgers and Treulen Banks and forward Jared Sam. Like Hyder, Rodgers and Banks are solid perimeter defenders, but they are also the best two scorers on the team and very dangerous outside shooters. It is Rodgers and Banks who will hit most of the three-pointers on the team and forward Shawn Prudhomme is a solid shooter off of the bench.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Southern may not beat themselves, but they can make it easy for the opposition to beat them. The defense is solid, but the lack of a shot blocking threat does make it pretty easy for the opposition to score in the paint. Sam is 6-9 and 210 pounds and fellow forward D’Adrian Allen is 6-8 and 225 pounds, so this is not the smallest SWAC team out there, but it is not a particularly tough frontcourt on the defensive end or on the glass. The other potential problem is on offense where this group has a habit of trying to play one-on-on basketball. Sometimes the best thing Southern can do is clear some space for Rodgers to take on his man, but this is an experienced group who should be able to work the ball around more effectively and find a good shot. If the Jaguars start trying to take on an athletic team one-on-one, they will be headed home in a hurry.
Probable Starters:
Christopher Hyder, Senior, Guard, 9.6 ppg, 5.0 apg, 2.4 spg
Trelun Banks, Junior, Guard, 12.6 ppg, 2.2 apg
Adrian Rodgers, Senior, Guard, 16.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.3 apg
D’Adrian Allen, Junior, Forward, 3.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg
Jared Sam, Sophomore, Forward, 9.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg
Key Roleplayers:
Rashad Andrews, Sophomore, Guard, 3.9 ppg
Tony Nunn, Junior, Forward, 3.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg
Shawn Prudhomme, Junior, Forward, 9.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg
Chris Thomas, Sophomore, Guard, 4.5 ppg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 72.9 (178th in nation, 1st in conference)
Scoring Defense: 69.6 (120, 3)
Field-Goal Percentage: 45.0 (126, 2)
Field-Goal Defense: 42.3 (106, 2)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.1 (259, 5)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 35.1 (153, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 65.9 (306, 6)
Rebound Margin: -2.0 (252, 6)
Assists Per Game: 10.9 (319, 5)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.2 (43, 1)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2013 NCAA Second Round loss to Gonzaga
*all team stats through 3/6
