By BILL BURRUS
Sports Editor
It’s been an excruciatingly painful run for Mississippi Valley State so far this season.
Out of the 351 teams in Division I, MVSU is the only one to still be winless with five weeks left in the regular season. The Delta Devils (0-20, 0-7 SWAC) have lost 21 in a row dating to last season — the longest active losing streak in D-I.
But nothing would help ease the pain like a win over archrival Jackson State. That’s the opportunity facing the Delta Devils Saturday as they JSU.
“Of course, that’s what we need,” said third-year Valley coach Andre Payne, who lost all but three players from last year’s squad. “We could celebrate our first win and beating our chief rival all at the same time.”
Despite being winless this late in the season, Payne said the mindset of his team is still good.
“The kids are still fighting and battling out there. Learning to win is a process, and our kids have learned a lot,” said the Valley coach. “We’ve just got to find a way to get some key stops to close out some of these games.”
The Tigers come in to Itta Bena one game back of SWAC leader Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 6-1 in league play and 9-11 overall.
They were off Monday after being blown out by Grambling State, 72-45, last Saturday. Jackson State was dismal throughout that game, shooting 15 of 60 from the field (25 percent) — including 20 missed 3-point attempts — and had 16 fewer rebounds than GSU. It was the lowest scoring output for Jackson State since its 76-45 loss to Maryland of the Big Ten Conference on Nov. 20.
Payne said JSU presents a challenge with its size advantage.
“They have two or three 6-foot-9 guys with some size on them. We have to offset that by speeding up the game and not letting them feed those guys in the half-court game,” Payne said.
Thanks to Jordan Evans, a transfer from Western Texas College, scoring hasn’t been a problem as of late for Valley. He poured in 30 points Monday night in a 93-77 loss at Prairie View A&M as he had a career-high six 3-pointers.
The junior has made 13 of 18 from 3-point range while scoring 93 points in the last three games, including a 41-point performance in a 78-70 overtime loss to Southern on Jan. 15.
Evans ranks fourth in scoring in SWAC action with 16.3 points a game.
But it’s on the defensive end where Valley has struggled mostly, giving up 93 and 91 points in its last two games. The team ranks last in SWAC play in scoring defense, allowing 78.1 points per contest.
