Jackson State is backed into a corner, and that makes the Tigers dangerous, says Andre Payne.
After a 3-0 start in league play, the Tigers have lost four straight as they played their last game with just six scholarship players and four walk-ons, thanks to a rash of injuries.
Payne’s Mississippi Valley State squad plays at archrival JSU Saturday. Both teams are in a five-way tie for fifth place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference at 3-4.
“It’s a big conference game, and it’s a big rivalry. That says it all,” Payne said.
MVSU and J-State are battling to move into the top four because the top four teams in the league will host a first-round game in the SWAC tournament before the winners advance to Houston for the semifinal and final rounds.
JSU was expected to get back one of its top players, Paris Collins, for the Valley game, which is set for 5 p.m. Saturday. But the school announced Thursday that hasn’t fully healed from his broken hand. Also, four other players lost for the season to injury aren’t coming back.
With Collins out, the team has leaned heavily on senior Yettra Specks for offensive production. He leads the league in minutes played per game, averaging 38 minutes every night.
Valley is coming of a huge 103-89 overtime upset of defending SWAC champion Texas Southern, in which Ta’Jay Henry scored 30 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, both career highs.
Isaac Williams added a career-high 29 points, and Marcus Romain had 23 for MVSU, which shot 61.3 percent from the field.
Williams ranks second in scoring in league play with 18.6 points per contest, while Romain is fourth at 17.9. Henry has moved up to 15th with 13.7 points a game.
With three of the SWAC’s top-15 scorers, there should be no surprise that Valley is averaging a conference-high 84 points a contest.
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Jackson State senior center Janarius Middleton is an Amanda Elzy High School product. The 6-foot-8, 223-pounder is averaging 8.6 rebounds per game, ranking him second in the SWAC behind Henry at 10.6.
Middleton has started 19 of 20 games and averages 6.2 points and 1.5 assists per game.
The last time Middleton faced Valley he had 10 points and 10 rebounds in JSU’s 73-49 win in Jackson last season.
• Contact Bill Burrus at 581-7237 or bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com. Follow on Twitter:@Bill_Burrus.
