Today's NCAA Tournament: Alabama State vs. UTSA

No. 16 Texas-San Antonio (19-13) vs. No. 16 Alabama State (17-17)
WHEN/WHERE: 5:40 p.m.CDT, Dayton, Ohio
TELEVISION: truTV Channel



A CLOSER LOOK: Texas-San Antonio likes a fast pace; Alabama State tries to keep games low-scoring. The winner will be the team that imposes its will. Alabama State was an upset winner of the SWAC Tournament. The Hornets have an RPI of No. 257 but have won 11 of 12 games. The Roadrunners upset McNeese State in winning the Southland tournament title. Area hoops fans might remember Texas-San Antonio coach Brooks Thompson, who played at Oklahoma State in the early 1990s before a short NBA career. The winner meets top-seeded Ohio State in the East Region.

Alabama State has tourney's worst record

Alabama State reached the NCAA tournament with a lousy record and a remarkable turnaround. The Hornets (17-17) have the worst record in the 68-team field. Everyone else has more wins than losses.

Alabama State must win its first-round game on Wednesday night against Texas-San Antonio (19-13) to improve to a winning record. Their reward? Heading up to Cleveland to try to knock off top-seeded Ohio State.

Roadrunners battle Hornets in "First Four" encounter

Dayton, OH (Sports Network) - Day two of the inaugural "Field of 68" play-in format for the 2011 NCAA Tournament has the champions of the Southland Conference, Texas-San Antonio, squaring off against the Southwestern Athletic Conference champs, Alabama State, from Dayton, Ohio.

Dubbed the "First Four", Wednesday's matchup is the third of four games over two days at UD Arena as part of the NCAA's re-formatted expansion of the traditional 64-team field. The winner of this matchup moves on to face the tournament's top overall seed, Ohio State, in the East Region Friday in Cleveland, Ohio at Quicken Loans Arena.

ASU basketball: White works to get job done for Hornets

Ivory White spends the first few minutes of every basketball game trying to figure out how he can help his Alabama State team­mates. Need an offensive spark? White is your guy. Looking for someone to shut down the high-octane perimeter offense of your opponent? Call on White.

Hoping someone can bol­ster your inside game with a few rebounds and help speed up the transition game? Then the junior guard from Greensboro is the perfect answer to your problems.

Duncan sparks Hornets' streak

Chris Duncan came to Alabama State with one thing on his mind.

And while he has excelled at defense in his two years with the Hornets, he has started to understand his value to the team as an offensive performer. The Hornets have won six consecutive games, transforming from a team that had underachieved and showed little chemistry to one that has dreams of earning an NCAA tournament bid.

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Texas-San Antonio to open NCAA Tournament play against Alabama State on Wednesday night

INDIANAPOLIS — The UTSA men's basketball team learned its NCAA Tournament destination and opponent on Sunday evening and the Southland Conference Tournament Champion Roadrunners will square off against Alabama State, which won this weekend's Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament. The two squads will play at 5:40 p.m. (CT) on Wednesday at UD Arena as part of the newly-created "First Four" games on the campus of the University of Dayton.

UTSA, winners of five consecutive outings in the last 11 days, will bring a 19-13 overall record into its fourth "Big Dance" appearance in program history and first since 2004 (1988, '99 are the others). The No. 7 seed Roadrunners earned the Southland's automatic bid following their 75-72 championship game victory against top-seeded McNeese State on Saturday afternoon. Senior guard Devin Gibson was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player and he was joined on the All-Tournament Team by freshman Jeromie Hill.

NCAA MEN'S BRACKET

Hornets To Face Texas-San Antonio In NCAA Tournament

The Alabama State men's basketball team will face Texas-San Antonio in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. central time in Dayton, Ohio. The two teams will be a part of the newly created “First Four” games on the campus of the University of Dayton.

The Hornets emerged from the fourth seed in the Farmers Insurance SWAC Tournament to win the title and the league's automatic berth for the fourth time in school history and second time in three seasons.

“We're excited to have an opportunity to be in the NCAA Tournament again,” Hornets' head coach Lewis Jackson said. “It's great for our players, Alabama State University, the community of Montgomery and people around the city and the state. Guys will have the opportunity to compete in the NCAA Tournament again and that's big. That's as high as it gets, and we're excited about being in it.”

Alabama State (17-17) enters the NCAA's as one of the nation's hottest teams, being victorious 11 of their last 12 games. That lone loss, a 74-73 decision at Grambling on March 5, was avenged in the tournament championship game Saturday night with a 65-48 win over the Tigers.

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Alabama State Beats Grambling State, Wins SWAC, NCAA Bid

ASU Coach Lewis Jackson and the Hornets are rolling to the Big Dance

GARLAND, Texas - Tremayne Moorer scored 14 points and Tramaine Butler added 13, lifting Alabama State to a 65-48 victory over Grambling on Saturday night to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament.

The Hornets are sure to be a low seed considering they are only 17-17. At least they have momentum going for them — they were 6-16 at the start of February, but head into the tournament on an 11-1 run. This victory avenged their only loss in their recent spurt, a one-pointer on the road in the regular-season finale.

Grambling (12-21) reached the SWAC tournament finals for the first time on a big roll of its own, winning nine of 11. The sixth-seeded Tigers led 28-26 at halftime, then fell apart.

Grambling falls, 65-48

The red-hot Grambling basketball team's fire finally burned out in the second half of the SWAC tournament championship game. The Tigers led Alabama State by two points at halftime, but were badly out-played in the second half and lost 65-48 at the Special Events Center in Garland, Texas.

The second half opened with GSU leading 28-26, and Alabama State quickly tied the game at 30-30 after a jump shot from Shareif Adamu. A Tramaine Butler layup gave the Hornets the lead, and from that point the lead only continued to grow.



ASU Throttles Grambling; Wins SWAC Tournament Championship

Garland, Tx. –Alabama State defeated Grambling State 65-48 at the Special Events Center in the 2011 Farmers Insurance Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament Championship. The victory gave Lewis Jackson his second conference tournament crown in his six years as head coach and the school's fourth.

ASU led 10-4 at the 15 minute mark of the first half. GSU responded with a pair of layups each from Justin Patton and Donald Qualls tying the game at 10 apiece. Qualls scored 35 points the night prior in the semi-finals against Jackson State. He finished with only 12 points on the night to lead Grambling.

Grambling's first lead came off of a Peter Robinson jump hook to make the score 22-20, with just under seven minutes to play before halftime. Four free throws later from Qualls and all of a sudden GSU led 26-20. The biggest deficit the hornets would see all tournament long.

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TSU Tigers upset in semifinals by Alabama State

GARLAND, TX - The Texas Southern Tigers believed they had the talent, drive and fortitude to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003. They certainly had the bravado. But they didn't have quite enough time to get past Alabama State in the semifinals of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament.

The top-seeded Tigers fell behind by a huge margin in the first half and came up short in their attempt at a furious second-half comeback, falling 73-66 to the fourth-seeded Hornets on Friday night at the Special Events Center.

Alabama State (16-17) moves on to face Grambling State in today's SWAC championship game. TSU, on the other hand, is destined for the National Invitation Tournament after winning the SWAC regular-season title but failing to capture the tournament championship and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA.



Videographer: CelebrityMLMarketing; ASU Mighty Marching Hornets - The Story of Fight Fanfare

ASU one win away from SWAC title, NCAA tourney bid

GARLAND, Texas -- The Alabama State men's basketball team dominated the first half against Texas Southern and held on for a 73-66 win, advancing to the Farmers Insurance SWAC Tournament Championship game. For the second straight game, the Hornets never trailed.

ASU jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game. After TSU responded with a 7-0 spurt of its own, the Hornets' Jeffery Middlebrooks and Ivory White hit a pair of 3-pointers pointers each.

Tremayne Moorer and Kenderek Washington also chipped in as ASU built a 19-point lead in the first half.



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ASU men's basketball defeats hot Texas Southern in SWAC play

ASU Hornets Coach Lewis Jackson

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- The Alabama State University men's basketball team defeated the red-hot Texas Southern 60-48 Monday night in Southwestern Athletic Conference play, extending the Hornets' winning streak to seven.

The Hornets shot 49 percent from the field and held Texas Southern to just 32 percent shooting. Senior Tramayne Moorer led ASU with 14 points, followed by Kenderek Washington's 12 points and Ivory White's 10. ASU also outrebounded TSU 34-27.

Alabama State Lady Hornets Drop Texas Southern

Montgomery, Ala. – The Alabama State (7-20, 4-12) Women's basketball team ended a four game losing streak by defeating Texas Southern (5-22, 3-13). The final from the Dunn-Oliver Acadome was 61-41. The win gives the Lady Hornets a much needed boost in order to solidify the 8th and final seed for the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament next week.

ASU led 22-17 at halftime holding TSU to under 30 percent shooting from the field. Meanwhile, the Lady Hornets shot 45 percent for the game.

Defense was the difference in the contest. In fact, ASU led 53-37 with three minutes to play. They also forced 29 TSU turnovers. “I feel like if we can continue to play like we did tonight and finish the season strong, we can make some strides leading into post season play”. Head coach Freda Freeman-Jackson said.

Tanika Jackson, who played her final game as a Lady Hornets on the home floor led all scorers with 20 points 14 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 assist.

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SU women beat ASU for fourth straight victory

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Defense, rebounding and strong guard play helped the Southern women’s basketball team in a 50-41 victory at Alabama State on Saturday night, extending the Jaguars’ winning streak to four games. Now, it’s on to Alabama A&M and a showdown for control of the Southwestern Athletic Conference race.

Saturday night in the Dunn-Lover Acadome, for the seventh time in seven conference games, Southern shot below 40 percent from the floor — but the Jaguars, as usual, made sure their 50 points were enough.

Southern (9-8, 6-1) forced 20 turnovers and owned a 33-25 advantage in rebounds against Alabama State (4-13, 1-5). The Lady Hornets got 14 points from Tanika Jackson and 10 points from Erica Henderson, but six of their 11 players went scoreless.

ASU falls short, Moorer or less

Former Central-Hayneville standout Tramayne Moorer returned to the Alabama State lineup for just the second time this season Saturday.

He responded with only the third double-double by a Hornet this season, scoring a team-high 11 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. But it wasn't enough, as the Hornets lost to Southern 64-52 at Dunn-Oliver Acadome.

For Moorer, it's a double dose of frustration. Sidelined for all but one game of his second and third years at ASU with a broken kneecap and a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, he was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA to play this season.

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Lewis Jackson says ASU men will play up-tempo, better

Alabama State's basketball team was a disappointment in 2009-10, at least by coach Lewis Jackson's standards. The Hornets played too much half-court offense, couldn't finish plays around the basket or at the free-throw line and didn't rebound to his satisfaction.

"When I took the job, I wanted to be a team that was going to get up and down the floor," said Jackson, who is beginning his sixth year at his alma mater. "But last year I kind of got caught with some guys we thought would be able to play and they were unable to do it at that time."

Washington, Johnson Lead ASU Past Georgia Southwestern

MONTGOMERY—Kenderek Washington scored 19 points and Ivan Johnson added 16 to lead Alabama State University to a 67-57 win over Georgia Southwestern State University in exhibition play to open the 2010-11 season.

ASU jumped out to a 16-7 lead in the first nine minutes of the game, but as the defensive intensity on both teams increased, the Hornets shooting fell off as they only scored six more points in the final 11 minutes of the first half.

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Q&A: ASU men's basketball coach Lewis Jackson: Hornets coach endures tumultuous offseason

The life of a college basketball coach -- even one in the middle of the offseason -- is rarely a walk in the park. If you doubt that, spend a few minutes with Alabama State head coach Lewis Jackson. Since his team's season ended with a shocking upset loss to Jackson State and a trip to face Arizona State in the National Invitation Tournament, Jackson and his assistants have endured the death of a player, the signing of four highly-touted new players and the departure of their most promising young stars.

They've also spent weeks on the road recruiting and some time working on next season's schedule. Jackson, who was still out recruiting, took a little time this week to talk to the Montgomery Advertiser about all of it.

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`Sweet Lew' has ASU basketball atop SWAC

Photo: Alabama State University head baskeball coach Lewis Jackson.

They call him "Sweet Lew" because of the silky stroke he had sinking jump shots for coach James Oliver. It can only get sweeter for Alabama State University basketball fans if Lewis Jackson can lead his team to three more victories starting Wednesday night at Fair Park Arena.

Three more wins and regular-season champion ASU earns its third automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament. Three more wins and boyhood dreams of playing on college basketball's biggest stage will come true for the 19-9 Hornets.

Jackson, though, has already reached one of his lifetime goals.

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