No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s vs. No. 16 Texas Southern preview for NCAA Tournament First Four matchup

The NCAA Tournament begins on Thursday, March 18th with the First Four, and then moves on to the first round on Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16. No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers will face No. 16 seed Texas Southern Tigers on Thursday in the First Four. Game time has yet to be announced but we will update this article with that and game odds as soon as it comes available. For now, we’ve got a preliminary preview of the two teams to get you ready for the start of March Madness!

Once the odds from DraftKings Sportsbook are made available for this game, we’ll add that information below. We’ll also add the game time and TV channel once it’s settled.

Game date: Thursday, March 18
Game time: 5:10 p.m.
TV channel: truTV
Location: Assembly Hall, Indiana University

Odds: Texas Southern -2, Total 132.5

No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s

The Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers are going back to the big dance for the sixth time in school history after defeating the Bryant Bulldogs 73-68 in the NEC championship. The No. 4 seed Mountaineers took down the No.1 seed Wagner Seahawks in the NEC semifinals to get a chance to compete for another conference title. Mount St. Mary’s finished the season with a record of 12-10. This season, the Mountaineers are only scoring 63.7 points per game, which is ranked 367th in the nation. But they are only allowing 62.3 points per game and are one of the better rebounding teams in the country (37.3 per game).

Two players to keep an eye for Mount St. Mary’s is junior guard Damian Chong Qui and junior forward Nana Opoku. Chong Qui leads the team in scoring and assists with 15.1 points and 5.5 assists per game. In the title game against Bryant, the 5-foot-8 guard had 21 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Opoku is the Mountaineers’ second-leading scorer with 10.3 points per game and is the team’s best shot blocker with 2.0 blocks per game.

Record: 12-10, 9-7
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 287
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 137
ATS: 11-10
Over Total: 8-13
Odds to win NCAA Championship: +30000

No. 16 Texas Southern

The Texas Southern Tigers have to be somewhat of a regular at the NCAA Tournament, and they advanced out of the SWAC once again. Texas Southern plays a fast style of basketball, averaging the 24th most possessions per game this season. The Tigers were the highest scoring offense in the conference this season with 74.6 points per game. Texas Southern is also a very good rebounding team with a rebounding margin of 6.1.

Individually, senior guard Michael Weathers leads this team with 16.7 points per game, which is the third most in the SWAC. He also grabs 5.2 rebounds with team highs with 3.6 assists and 2.2 steals. Junior forward John Walker III averages 12 points and 5.6 boards, and the leading rebounder on the team is Joirdon Karl Nicholas, grabbing 6.8 rebounds with 11.1 points per game.

Record: 16-8, 10-3 SWAC
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 236
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 235
ATS: 12-10-1
Over Total: 13-9-1
Odds to win NCAA Championship: +30000