The mighty Jackson State Tigers are in town to challenge our minds and to change our lives. Hailing from Mississippi, they have an enrolled population of approximately 8600 students...or about half of a Chem1a class.

Although they came in second in the SWAC last year, it's been a rougher go this year for the 1-6 Tiger squad. In fairness, they've had a tough non-conference schedule having to play the likes of Florida, Baylor, Ohio State, and Memphis. Quite predictably, these were all double-digit blowouts. Against more reasonable competition like Tulsa and North Florida, their losses were more respectable.

This _should_ be another early-season warm-up game for our Bears. But will we take them lightly, or come out with controlled ferocity? You'd have to think that the just-reinstated Richard Solomon would come out with a chip on his shoulder.

After the jump, let's look at the lineups and key match-ups:

Projected Starters:

F Sydney Coleman(Fr), 6'7, 215 lbs, 3 ppg, 4 rpg
F Jenirro Bush(Sr), 6'7, 190 lbs, 13.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg
G Christian Williams(Jr), 6'1 180 lbs, 8.3 ppg, 2.6 apg
G Derrell Taylor(Fr), 6'5, 195 lbs, 3 ppg, 3 rpg
G Kelsey Howard(Fr), 6'3, 190 lbs, 13.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg

Bench:

F/C Davon Jones(Jr), 6'8, 230 lbs, 3.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg
C Raymond Gregory(Jr)), 6'9, 255 lbs, 1.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg
G Keeslee Stewart(Fr), 5'9, 165 lbs, 3 ppg, 1.7 rpg
G Jonathan Lewis(Jr), 5'10, 180 lbs, 1 ppg, 1 rpg

Overview:

The Tigers are a young team with four freshman playing heavy minutes in their rotation. Senior G/F Jenirro Bush was their leading scorer for most of the year with youngster Kelsey Howard coming on lately. Besides Howard, Jackson State doesn't really have any other consistent deep threats. In fact, Jackson State just isn't a particularly good shooting or rebounding team. And now I've just jinxed us into them going all McNeese on us...

Key Matchups:

1) Focus and Intensity

This is a team that we should destroy. Let's do that.

2) Points in the paint

Feels like I keep beating the same drum, but it would be nice for us to establish a more consistent low-post offense.

3) Build the bench

Cobbs is a key part of our rotation, and Kravish has already established himself as a valuable contributor. Will we see Murray, Powers, Thurman, or Bak step up?

Go Bears!

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