Texas Southern Incredible 2018 March Madness Run

[00:00:00] On March 10, 2018, the University of Texas Southern defeated Arkansas Pine Bluff to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament, earning a ticket into March Madness.

[00:00:15] And with this win, they became the first team to go 0-13 to start the season to make the big dance and became the first team with a losing record to win a game in the NCAA Tournament. Coming back from rock bottom to become history makers that are often forgot about.

[00:00:36] Today we're going to dive into what happened during this tumultuous season with Texas Southern and their unforgettable journey that got them in the history books. Today on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily learn more about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge.

[00:01:01] And today's trivia question to listen out for is, how many non-conference home games did Texas Southern play in the 2017-2018 season? Listen to the episode for the answer, and if you miss it, I will give it to you at the end. Before we get into Texas Southern, let's dive into the worst teams to make the NCAA Tournament. Now we talked previously about how the bracket actually started, the 64-team bracket.

[00:01:30] And if you go back and listen to that episode, you learn that everything got based off conferences. And if you won your conference, you can make the tournament no matter how good you were previously. This led to great teams missing out because they just didn't win their conference. Some teams didn't, and some teams it was just based off who had the best record, and there wasn't even a tournament. But once they started having tournaments, that's when teams really started. That's when there started to be more and more parity.

[00:01:56] And in 1995, Florida International became the worst team to make the NCAA Tournament, winning only 11 games and losing 18. That number was tied one year later by the University of Central Florida. And in 1997, Fairfield College in the MEAC Conference had the same exact win-loss ratio.

[00:02:22] So in three straight years, three teams only winning 11 games that year, with a winning percentage just under 38%, made the big dance. Now, normally we don't hear much about these teams because they are the lesser teams to make the tournaments. But there have been a total of 19 teams that finished the regular season 500 or below in the history of the 64-team bracket.

[00:02:45] But only one team with 500 or below record had ever made it to the big dance and won a game. And that was Texas Southern University in 2018. And to let you know, in 2023, Texas Southern actually did it again, winning only 14 games that season, with a winning percentage of 42%. They won the SWAC Conference again and made it to the big dance with a losing record.

[00:03:14] Now, let's dive into what happened in the 2018 season for Texas Southern. Now, they came into this season off a strong previous season. They made the NCAA and not only won the Southwestern Athletic Conference, or better known as the SWAC Conference tournament, but the regular season as well, having a 23-12 record. And they were led by head coach Mike Davis.

[00:03:38] Now, you might recognize that name as he took over the Indiana Hoosiers after Bobby Knight was let go. And was able to lead them to a Final Four appearance. And had bounced around ever since leaving IU. But having success, as with Texas Southern, coming into his sixth year with Texas Southern in the 2017-18 season, he had led them to a winning record every year previously.

[00:04:04] And Mike Davis had a way of wanting to get his team to play top competition. So they would be ready for postseason play. Which is a good idea and something we've seen a lot of teams do, playing non-conference scheduled teams that are in higher conferences or just really good, mostly ranked teams. And so he tried to do that. They started out facing number 18, Gonzaga, for their first game, where they lost by 28 points.

[00:04:32] And they would go on to play Washington State, Ohio State, Syracuse, Kansas, who was number 3 at the time, who they lost by over 40 points. And that didn't stop there. They played Clemson and Oregon and number 21, Baylor, who beat them by 30 points. And they would go on to play TCU, ranked number 15 at the time, and lose by 19 points. They would struggle throughout the whole non-conference season.

[00:05:00] They would not win a game to start their season until the year flipped over into January. And they lost every single non-conference game, a total of 13 games. And not only did they lose all their non-conference games, they did not play a home game the entire non-conference season. For over two months. They started in November. They didn't play a home game until their first conference game on January 1st. That's tough for any team.

[00:05:28] If you look at any basketball team, when they play away, they lose more. It's just how often it happens. You're more likely to lose away than you are home. You have support at home. You have the home bed. There's just so much more about home. That's why in basketball we talk about home court advantage in the NBA being so important. Because it is. It has decided who ended up winning the championship multiple times. Being home can change things. And not being home for two months.

[00:05:57] But Coach Mike Davis was able to keep his team's head up high. It would be so easy for them to dip their head into the ground and just forget about the season and let it go. But no. What they did is they held their heads up high and learned from every single thing. They were battle tested and they were sharp to enter their conference play. And their SWAT conference game started on January 1st, 2018. Things started to turn around.

[00:06:26] Versus Southern University where they actually won 78-66 at their home stadium in Houston. And they would go to underwin three straight times. And then they go on the road again and lose two in a row. So mind you, they have a great record at home and they come back and play Mississippi Valley State and win by 14 points. After this, they would go on to lose their first home game. After going 4-0 at home, they would lose to Arkansas Pine Bluff by two points. But then they would do something they hadn't done all season.

[00:06:56] They would go on the road and beat Alabama A&M. And then go beat Alabama State. And then they would look like an average basketball team in their conference. And then starting on February 24th that year, they would beat Alabama A&M by over 30 points. And go on a four-game win streak to finish the season of 14 with an overall record of 14-19. But their conference record was 12-6.

[00:07:21] Finishing third that year in their conference behind Grambling State and Prairie View A&M, who they tied. And in the SWAC conference that year, there was only one team, one, with a winning record. That's 10 teams that all had losing records overall. That's crazy. And it's because they were all kind of doing what Texas Southern did. Playing bigger schools, going out to face these schools. And then they did a lot better in their conference.

[00:07:50] But that just shows that these schools needed to go face these tougher competitions outside of the conference. Because if they didn't, the other schools would. So they come into the SWAC tournament. And how they had success was they had great size and defense. Even though they were a smaller school, Demontre Jefferson led the team with 23.4 points a game. And he did this as a 5-7 point guard. Now you see these a lot at small schools, where a point guard is small, but very good.

[00:08:20] Because a lot of times there's great basketball players that just don't meet the NBA standards for height. It's just how it goes. He was a great scorer, despite his size. And then you had Derek Bruce, who also almost averaged 15 points a game, shooting 38% from three. And Trayvon Reed, the 7-2 center, was averaging 10 points, 8 rebounds, and over 3 blocks a game. And this trio of upperclassmen continued their success going into the tournament.

[00:08:48] Where they took down Alabama State by 14 points. And then, a day later, they faced off against Prairie View A&M. Beating them 88-74. Where Derek Bruce and Demontre Jefferson each scored almost 20 points, leading the way offensively. And Trayvon Reed held the defense down with 7 blocks. Punching their ticket to the SWAC championship. Which was played in Houston, where Texas Southern is from.

[00:09:15] So they packed the arena against Arkansas Pine Bluff. And in the first half, it was a tight battle. Where TCU led at the half by 2 points, 38-36. But Jefferson took control in the second half. Sparking their offense with a steal and hitting a tough layup on the fast break. And on the next possession, hit Derek Bruce for 3. Which sparked a 12-2 run, giving them the lead. And they would go on to win by 15 points. 84-69.

[00:09:44] Punching their ticket to the NCAA tournament. Giving them the SWAC title. Where Demontre Jefferson was voted the tournament MVP. Averaging 21 points and 7 assists. And they cut down their nets. And waited for Selection Sunday. Where they would see who they would face off in the tournament. Now the tournament is actually 68 teams. Which is not the normal 64 bracket that we fill out. But there are 4 games that's called the first 4.

[00:10:12] That are played before the major tournament. Before the first round is played. As a play-in type game. And they were awarded one of those games. Where they would face off against North Carolina Central. In Dayton, Ohio. Now there is motivation for this. Because no SWAC team had ever won a game in the NCAA tournament. So they weren't only fighting for themselves. For pride. They were fighting for their conference as well. And this was also a major moment. As it was two historic black colleges.

[00:10:40] And whoever won would get their first NCAA tournament victory. In their team's history. So each won this. And on March 14th. Where again, Demontre Jefferson took over. The game started out as a defensive struggle. But Demontre Jefferson quickly got into rhythm. Scoring 10 of the first 15 points for his team. And by halftime, they had a 10 point lead. 36 to 26. Shooting 46% from the field. While holding NC Central to only 30% from the field.

[00:11:10] But coming out in the second half. NC Central made a run. And cut the lead to within 5 points. With only 12 minutes left. But then Jefferson hit a 3 to silence their opponent. And later on in the half. Derrick Bruce hit back-to-back 3s. Increasing their lead to double digits. And with 3 minutes left in the game. Drayvon Reed, the 7-2 center. Caught an alley-oop dunk. Bringing the crowd to its feed. Essentially sealing the game. For the TSU Tigers.

[00:11:40] Where they won the game 64 to 46. Becoming the first SWAC team to ever win an NCAA tournament. The game MVP went to Demontre Jefferson. Who scored 25 points. Had 8 assists and 5 rebounds. With Trevon Reed having 10 points. 8 rebounds. And 6 blocks. They advanced to the round of 64. Where they faced number 1 seed. Xavier. In Nashville, Tennessee. Now Xavier was the Big East champion that year.

[00:12:09] And had won the number 1 seed in the Western region. And they were massive underdogs. As they had a losing record throughout the season. And they struggled against opponents in major conferences. As everyone they played in a major conference previously they had lost to. Xavier had size and depth. And by halftime, they were winning by 19 points. Despite Demontre Jefferson putting all he could on the floor. Scoring 25 points. It wasn't enough for them to come back. And they ended up losing by 19 points. 102 to 83.

[00:12:39] Their Cinderella run was over. But this team had done something they had never done before. It didn't matter that they started 0-13. It didn't matter that they didn't play a game at home until the new year. They made history. But unfortunately, what happens a lot in these March Madness successes for these small schools is the coach has success and they leave. After the season, Mike Davis left to go coach at Detroit Mercy. Leaving a legacy as one of the most winning coaches that Texas Southern had ever had.

[00:13:09] As Trayvon Reed would go on to play another season. He would attempt a pro career playing for a couple teams overseas. And currently is playing for the Sreda Club based in Bahrain. And as for the MVP of the team, Demontre Jefferson, he had some attitude issues and was suspended from the team. And really left basketball behind. And I've looked everywhere I can. I can't find any record of him playing anywhere else. But he was a great player for what he was.

[00:13:36] For his size, he was able to dominate. And unfortunately, that happens sometimes with players. Their head doesn't lead their talent to success. But for a moment, him and the team had a great time taking the basketball world by storm. I want to thank you for listening to today's Daily Sports History. If you want more college basketball content, check out the Iconic Basketball Seasons Podcast. Where host Aaron takes you back to the greatest college basketball seasons of all time.

[00:14:05] You get to hear from players, coaches, and journalists. And we love all the excitement. We'll put a link in the description below for you to check them out. If you enjoyed today's podcast, please follow us on our socials. Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, YouTube. Wherever you would like, check us out. You can see pictures and videos from our episodes. And come back tomorrow for more Daily Sports History. And did you catch the answer to today's trivia question?

[00:14:30] How many non-conference home games did Texas Southern play in the 2017-2018 season? And the answer is zero. They played 13 non-conference games and all of them were away. They didn't play their first home game until January 1st, 2018.