Texas Southern players celebrate after defeating Mount St. Mary's in a First Four game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Bloomington, Ind. – Texas Southern forward John Walker III celebrated the program's second NCAA Tournament win the way he always envisioned — hooting, hollering and just having fun. Their win over North Carolina Central in 2018 was the program's first in the NCAA Tournament. While Texas Southern found a way to advance, it needs to play much better to compete with the Wolverines. THE ROADMount St. Mary's: Positive COVID-19 tests forced the Mountaineers to put the program on pause twice in December, forcing them into a monthlong break between games.

Jalen Tate spent four years at Norther Kentucky, where he made an NCAA Tournament appearance, and Connor Vanover, who began his season at California. His teammate, Tanner Groves, wound up being league MVP — yet wasn't even an all-Big Sky pick before the season. They're a tough team to guard.”BIG MOMENTS, BIG SHOTSMount St. Mary's will likely be long gone by next week. He scored the final seven points to beat Central Connecticut State, then did the same thing against Long Island. In the Northeast Conference final, he scored 17 of 21 points after halftime to book an NCAA trip.