Grambling basketball: ‘The team’s No. 2 scorer is a typo’

While the meaningful games on Monday nights in January and February almost always fall on Big Mondays, they are far from the only games being played on those nights.

Both the MEAC and SWAC — MEACtion and SWACtion, if you will — play their leagues games on Monday nights, in part because it allows them to get a game or two on ESPNU every week.

One team you won’t be seeing on TV at all this year is Grambling. On Monday night, they lost to Texas Southern 95-50. Texas Southern is now 5-13 on the season. Grambling is used to the losing by now, however, as the loss dropped the Tigers to 0-15 on the season. Their “best” loss? By 13 points to Alabama State, who is ranked 337th out of 347 Division I teams, according to Kenpom.

What’s worse, is that loss was one of just two times where Grambling kept the final score relatively close. They also have a 16 point loss to Prairie View A&M on their resume, the only other time they were able to keep the final margin under 20 points.

Deadspin’s Dom Cosentino took a look at Grambling on Monday, and he discovered a perfect metaphor for the Tiger’s season:

The official stats on Grambling’s website show that the team’s leading scorer is Terry Rose, a 6-foot-4 freshman guard/forward from Davenport, Fla. Rose averages 17.3 points per game and is shooting a solid 43.4 percent from the field, including 45.5 percent from 3-point range. The second-leading scorer, putting up 9.7 points per game, is also Rose. Yes, it’s the same player, listed twice. Only the second time, his name is misspelled. That’s the kind of year it’s been for Grambling. The team’s No. 2 scorer is a typo.

Grambling’s issues are understandable. They’ve been hammered by APR penalties, seeing their practice time cut by four hours and one day a week as well as being limited to just 10 scholarships. They also have a new coach this season who has just eight scholarship players on his roster. The other seven members of the team? Walk-ons.

Those are some serious odds to go up against.

If Grambling is going to get a win this season, my bet would be on it coming at some point in the next two weeks. The Tigers host Mississippi Valley State on Saturday and Jackson State on Monday the 28th. Both of those teams have just a single win on the season. Better get them at home when you’ve got the chance, Grambling.

That’s no certainty, however.

You want an idea of just how badly things are going this year?

According to Kenpom, Grambling is the worst team in the country in terms of both offensive and defensive efficiency. That’s a really hard thing to do.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.