Mississippi Valley State is facing a critical two-game homestand.
The Delta Devils are tied atop the Southwestern Athletic Conference at 3-0 with Texas Southern, so it's imperative that they take care of business at home to keep pace in the league standings.
MVSU (4-11) hosts in-state rival Alcorn State (3-12, 1-3) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Harrison HPER Complex in Itta Bena. The Braves are coming off a tough 72-71 loss to Grambling State. Their only league win was a 63-60 decision at home against Jackson State.
"As always, we have got to take care of business at home. This is a big game for us because it's at home, against a conference opponent, and it's against an your rival," Valley coach Sean Woods said.
One reason for MVSU's strong SWAC start is the recent play of senior Falando Jones. The former Greenwood High School standout is averaging 9.7 points this season but has scored 18.3 points in the first three SWAC games - the third-highest average in league play.
Jones, a 6-foot-4 Mississippi Delta Community College transfer, is averaging nearly seven rebounds a game in SWAC play while shooting 63.3 percent from the field.
"I am just real focused because this is my last semester of college basketball. I know I've got to step up my game to help this team win a SWAC championship," said Jones, the reigning SWAC Player of the Week. "We know we have to defend our home court. Our goal is to win every game we play, but we know we can't let any slip away at home.
"We love playing at home because we have great fans. We're excited about being at home because we've been on the road almost all season."
This marks just Valley's second game in Itta Bena in 16 contests. The Delta Devils opened SWAC play at home Jan. 2 with an 82-67 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and then won 67-60 at defending conference tournament champion Alabama State and 81-69 at Alabama A&M.
Woods said he is impressed with how Jones has played of late.
"I challenged all of our players. I told them if they think they're the best players in the league, then they've got to win every play," said the fourth-year MVSU coach.
"Falando has responded. He's taking an approach of analyzing the game and using his great athletic ability."
It's early, but Woods and Jones both believe the Delta Devils have a team capable of winning the SWAC.
"I think we showed folks what we're capable of by sweeping in Alabama. That's something we haven't done since I've been here," Woods said. "We just have to keep working hard and getting better."
Jones said he likes the makeup of this team, which has a heavy dose of seniors in Terrence Joyner, Paul Crosby, Kevin Burwell, Cor-J Cox and Amos Sturdivant with freshmen Brent Arrington and Luka Pajkovic helping out off the bench.
"It's a good mix. We have a lot of experienced guys and a couple of young players who have upped the tempo," Jones said.
• Women: The Devilettes are set to tip off at 2 p.m. Saturday against Alcorn.
The Devilettes (5-9, 2-1 SWAC), who are coming off a 69-67 win at Alabama A&M, will face a Lady Braves team that is 5-11 and tied for first in the SWAC at 3-1.
MVSU senior guard Ka'Neisha Smith will be honored at halftime after recently scoring her 1,000th career point. She leads Valley in both points (10.4) and rebounds (5.4) per game this season.
• Contact Bill Burrus at bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
