Mississippi Valley State is set for a key confrontation with archrival Jackson State on Saturday.
Both teams are jockeying for position in the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings, and then there are the bragging rights that are also on the line. The two rivals square off at 4 p.m. Saturday in Greenwood at the Leflore County Civic Center.
“This is always a big one,” second-year Valley head coach Andre Payne said. “The rivalry takes an already important game to another level.
“I have to keep our guys emotions in check once the ball is tipped off. We have to focus on the game, not the opponent.”
The Tigers (10-10, 5-2 SWAC) are third in the conference, a half game behind Southern and Alcorn State, which play each other on Saturday. The Delta Devils (4-18, 3-4) are in a two-way tie for fifth place — looking to move up a bit if they can take advantage of four straight home games.
After traveling to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday, the Tigers will have back-to-back home contests against the Braves and Jaguars. While the games against Alcorn State and Southern loom large, Brent knows they’ll lose some of their luster if they lose either of the next two games.
“The Valley game and the UAPB game are the most important because you still want to be in the race when Southern and Alcorn come to us,” Brent said. “The great part is we’ve already been to Alcorn, we’ve already been to Southern. We have the advantage if we take care of the two games we have this weekend.”
JSU will come into this matchup with some confidence after it earned its first comfortable victory in the SWAC when it defeated Grambling, 60-45, on Saturday. So that should give the Tigers an added boost, as will six days off in between games.
“Anytime you can get a break, it’s always good so you can rest some guys,” Brent said. “We play so aggressive, so physical. Our practices are aggressive, we bump into each other, so it gave us a chance to let guys kind of heal up and spend some time doing individual work and time on the free-throw line. Lord knows we need it.”
The Delta Devils enter Saturday’s showdown with a little momentum too after ending a three-game losing skid Monday with a 76-73 win at Prairie View.
Isaac Williams scored 19 points in that game and Marcus Romain added 17 to help MVSU rally from a 13-point, first-half deficit.
In league play only, Williams is the SWAC’s top scorer averaging 17.7 points a contest. Romain is seventh with 15 points a contest.
Against SWAC foes, Valley ranks third in the league in scoring with an average of 71 points a game.
JSU ranks second in scoring defense (63.6) and field goal percentage defense (37.4).
JSU junior big man Janarius Middleton will return home to play in a venue he is quite familiar with, the Civic Center.
As a former standout at Amanda Elzy, Middleton played in many games in the facility against rival Greenwood High. He has played in 19 of the Tigers’ 20 games this season, with 13 starts.
The 6-foot-8, 220-pounder averages 6.4 points and 5.2 rebounds a game.
