Returning Texas teams, first-timers make up First Four field

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Texas A&M-CorpusChristi guard Trevian Tennyson got a taste of the pomp and startreatment at last year’s First Four and wanted more.

The Islanders lost their 2022 play-in game to Texas Southern,which notched its second First Four victory in a row.

“We had meetings at the beginning of the year, and the onlything I told them was, my goal this year was to get back to MarchMadness,” said Tennyson, who led the Islanders with 15.7 points pergame and hit 41% of his 3-pointers. “We’re here, so that’s reallyit.

“Anything can happen really because it’s March Madness,”Tennyson said Monday. “Last year we started off on a really goodtrail. We (were) up, I think, almost 15, and we didn’t end upcoming up with the win. Really, just anything can happen.”

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (23-10) has won 12 of its last 13,including the Southland Conference tournament. This time in theFirst Four, they face the Redhawks of Southeast Missouri State, ateam that had a losing record before winning the Ohio ValleyConference tournament for the first time in 23 years.

For the Redhawks, it was the first winning season in nineyears.

“It’s basketball Christmas. It really is,” Southeast MissouriState coach Brad Korn said. “Every time you turn the corner, yousmile at something else. We had a guy playing bagpipes at the hoteltoday, so what else could you ask for?”

The winner moves on as the 16th seed to face top-seeded Alabamain the first round at Birmingham on Thursday.

THESE GUYS AGAIN

Texas Southern is as close to a First Four regular as the annualplay-in event can claim.

The Tigers return to the event for the third straight year andfifth time overall, facing off Wednesday night against FairleighDickinson (17-15), the New Jersey school that won a First Four gamein 2019 and is just a year removed from a 4-22 finish.

Texas Southern’s fifth-year coach, Johnny Jones, is 3-0 in theFirst Four since taking over in 2018. The Tigers come to Daytonthis time with a losing record (14-20) but earned the postseasonberth by sweeping through the Southwest Conference tournament,beating second-seeded Grambling State in the final.

The winner of the Texas Southern-Fairleigh Dickinson game willjump on Interstate 70 for the hour’s drive to Columbus, where itwill slot in as the 16th seed in the East and play top-seededPurdue on Friday.

DIFFERENT STYLES

Mississippi State and Pitt should be an intriguing matchupbecause their strengths are so different.

Mississippi State (21-12) is the worst 3-point shooting team incollege basketball. Expect the Bulldogs, just 8-10 in the SEC, totry to get to the rim and try to clamp down on Pitt with excellentperimeter defense.

The Panthers (22-11) can make the mid-range and long jumpers butdon’t play as well inside, and they aren’t as good defensively.

“One of the things that’s difficult is that we can’t simulatetheir size and their strength and athleticism in what we’re doingin practice,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. “So we really have to betotally dialed in to the little things that add up to bigthings.”

The winner of the late Tuesday night game advances to MidwestRegional as the 11th seed, facing sixth-seeded Iowa State onFriday.

FAMILIAR FACES

Arizona State (22-12) beat Oregon State and USC in the Pac-12tournament before being routed in the semifinal by No. 8 Arizona, ateam the Sun Devils had bested Feb. 25.

They did so in no small part because of forward WarrenWashington and Desmond Cambridge Jr., a fifth-year guard who ledthe team with 13.7 points per game.

Both players transferred from Nevada — the team Arizona Statewill face in Wednesday’s late game.

Nevada lost four of its last six games to finish 22-10 but stillgot picked off the bubble for the play-in game. Guard Jared Lucasleads the way, averaging 17.3 points and hitting 38% of his 3-pointshots.

The winner moves on as the 11th seed in the West and a Fridaymatchup with TCU.

MOVING ON

For bracketeers looking for a Cinderella to come out of Dayton,it could happen.

In fact, at least one First Four team has gone on to win anothergame in the tournament every year except 2019. The event has beenplayed in Dayton every year since 2011, except for 2020, when itwas canceled because of the pandemic, and 2021 when it was movedunder the COVID-19 bubble in Indianapolis.

In 2011, No. 11 seed VCU got on a roll and went all the way tothe Final Four, beating No. 1 Kansas in the regional final.