All Breaks, No Gas: Jaguar Basketball Season Recap

The entertaining sport that is basketball, has come to an end for some college programs around America. Unfortunately, Southern University was a victim and will now have to watch March Madness from home. March Madness is a major basketball tournament on the collegiate level, presenting an opportunity to win a National Championship. Southern’s basketball teams could get there by winning the SWAC Tournament. The pre-season expectations for the men were low as they were predicted to finish toward the bottom of the SWAC, due to a massive turnover on the roster and the coaching staff. As for the women, they were the defending SWAC Champions and had high expectations as they were projected to finish 2nd before the season.
The Lady Jaguars had a lot of seniors on this team, so they had a healthy dose of leadership to potentially be repeat champions, but it is easier said than done. The women started conference play off blazing, going 3-1 in their first four conference games. However, adversity loomed its ugly head within the program, resulting in the women being sixth in conference standings after some tough losses mid-season. One notable aspect in the Lady Jags basketball play all season would be their lack of ability to keep energy the entirety of the game, which in some cases loses them the game. Despite all of that though there were some impressive moments for the Lady Jags as they would finish the season 13-5 in conference play, which is equivalent to third place.
However, in the postseason, none of that matters as its sudden death, win or go home, or put up or shut up. The Lady Jags lost against the #6 seeded Alcorn State Lady Braves as the #3 seed 59-52. With an experienced team like the Lady Jags and a head coach like Carlos Funchess, it is clear this wasn’t the expectation.
As for the men, they had a lot of adversity to overcome, considering they had a young team and a new head coach. However, the Jaguars set the bar high, knocking off the University of Las Vegas (UNLV) and Mississippi State. The team had a spectacular offensive attack, averaging 72.8 points per game (PPG) in their first 12 games in conference play. In that stretch, they were 10-2, sitting first in the conference. However, a collapse started to occur. Junior guard, Tai’Reon Joseph was averaging 20.5 PPG, which was 21st in the nation, but he couldn’t finish the season after the Alcorn State game. The team would finish their last seven games, averaging 58.7 PPG, causing them to finish 12-6. The downside to this season was the fact Grambling and Bethune-Cookman swept Southern, and Southern lost the number one seed. One significant weakness of the Jags was their ability to effectively rebound, which is something Head Coach Kevin Johnson spoke about, saying they were improving week by week. On the Brightside, Junior guard Tidijane Dioumaassi was named to the All-SWAC Second Team. Now, the Jags would go into the tournament as the #4 seed to face the #5 seed Bethune-Cookman Wildcats and would lose 58-73, meaning the Wildcats were 3-0 against the Jags. Grambling State would win the SWAC Tournament, meaning it was their first championship in history, and will play in the March Madness tournament. Both Jaguar basketball programs have a lot to work on, so until next year.