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NCAA Tournament Cheat Sheet: Getting To Know: Southern

Roman Banks

Southern head coach Roman Banks instructs his team in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Prairie View A&M in the NCAA college basketball championship game of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament, Saturday, March 16, 2013, in Garland, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

AP

Read through the rest of the Cheat Sheets here.

Conference: Southwestern Athletic Conference

Coach: Roman Banks

Record: 23-9

Rankings and Ratings:

- Kenpom: 162
- RPI: 49
- AP/USA Today: N/A

Seeding?: Our Dave Ommen had Southern as a No. 16 seed playing in one of the First Four in Saturday’s bracket projection.

Names you need to know: Malcolm Miller (16.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg), Derrick Beltran(16.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg), Javan Mitchell (9.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg)

Stats you need to know: Scoring defense for Southern is the key. Roman Banks is a discipline coach and under him the Jaguars hold teams to exactly 57 points per game after holding Prairie View A&M to 44 points in the SWAC title game. The Southern scoring defense is good for thirteenth in the nation. In Saturday’s win, Southern held Prairie View A&M’s Jourdan DeMuynck to 15 points after he went for 37 the night before against Jackson State

How’d they get here?: Southern made it to the field of 68 by only needing to win a pair of tournament games in order to clinch the automatic bid. Southern actually finished second in the SWAC, but because of postseason bans, Texas Southern was not in the tournament.

Outlook: Probably not good. Like previously stated, Southern is pegged for a No. 16 seed and even before the Jaguars play one of the four No. 1 seeds, they will likely need to play a game in Dayton at the First Four before.

How do I know you?: Like all No. 16 seeds, it’s been impossible to beat a No. 1 seed thus far. Also, it’s uncertain whether Southern will even get that chance as they are slated to play the MEAC winner in the First Four. However, this is a tremendous turnaround for the Jaguars. Two years after the program’s worst record, 4-26 and Southern is in the big dance.

Terrence is also the lead writer at NEHoopNews.com and can be followed on Twitter: @terrence_payne