Texas Southern Beats Texas A&M-CC, Will Play Kansas in 1st Round of March Madness

The first victory of the 2022 NCAA men's basketball tournament belongs to the Texas Southern Tigers of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

They defeated the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders of the Southland Conference 76-67 in Tuesday's First Four game between the No. 16 seeds in Dayton, Ohio. Bryson Etienne, John Walker III and Brison Gresham led the way for the victors, who will play the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks in the Midwest Region on Thursday.

A solid showing by Trevian Tennyson wasn't enough for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

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Notable Player Stats

• Bryson Etienne, G, TSU: 21 PTS, 5 REB
• John Walker III, F, TSU: 16 PTS, 6 REB
  
• PJ Henry, G, TSU: 14 PTS, 5 REB
• Trevian Tennyson, G, TAMUCC: 18 PTS, 4 REB
  
• Simeon Fryer, G, TAMUCC: 12 PTS, 9 REB
• Terrion Murdix, G, TAMUCC: 10 PTS, 6 AST

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One of the biggest storylines coming into the game was which offense would break through considering both units struggled for much of the season.

According to the opponent-adjusted rankings on KenPom.com, Texas Southern had the 270th-best offense in the country. While that certainly isn't impressive, it was still better than Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's 287th-ranked group.

The Islanders at least had Isaac Mushila as a double-double threat and go-to option, while the Tigers didn't have a single player average 10 points per game.

The first half followed form, as the teams shot a combined 24-of-63 (38.1 percent) with 15 turnovers. Texas Southern enjoyed a 32-30 lead at intermission thanks in large part to its bench.

Walker and Etienne combined for 16 points with the former connecting on two three-pointers. The Tigers defense also kept Mushila in check (five points, five rebounds), though Simeon Fryer spearheaded the early effort for the Islanders as both a scorer and rebounder (seven points, six rebounds).

Etienne continued to play well at the start of the second half and helped the Tigers extend their lead to six with a three-pointer.

However, Tennyson, the Islanders' second-leading scorer, led a 14-4 run with two three-pointers, a steal and a layup to give his team a 57-53 lead with less than eight minutes to play.

His outside shooting was key because Gresham controlled the paint, corralling 13 boards and swatting seemingly every shot Texas A&M-Corpus Christi took in the lane on his way to six blocks.

But Texas Southern answered the run with a burst of its own, taking the lead back with three free throws by PJ Henry. Another Gresham block a minute later, a layup in transition by A.J. Lawson and two Walker free throws gave the Tigers a 66-61 lead heading into the final three minutes.

Then they rode their defense to victory.

The Islanders managed just a single field goal as the Tigers pulled away at the free-throw line to secure their spot in the round of 64.

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What's Next?

Texas Southern will face Kansas in the round of 64 on Thursday.