Syracuse (21-13) will play Midwest Region No. 6 TCU at 9:40 p.m. Friday in Detroit. It’s TCU’s first tournament appearance in 20 years.
Texas Southern blew out North Carolina Central 64-46 in the opener behind a much smaller guard trio of Damontrae Jefferson (5-7), Donte Clark (6-4) and Derrick Bruce (6-3). They combined for 52 points, and Jefferson scored 25 of them.
TSU (16-19) will play West Region No. 1 seed Xavier at 7:20 p.m. Friday in Nashville.
And a sellout crowd of 12,732 saw it to set a First Four record. Tuesday night’s crowd was a near sellout with 12,336 in attendance.
Here are three more takeaways from the second night:
Height doesn't matter: Jefferson has the game and the flash to be an NCAA Tournament darling. All 16th-seeded Texas Southern has to do is have enough game to at least push Xavier, the No. 1 seed in the West Region, and Jefferson will be talked about. A 16th seed has never beaten a No. 1.
Damontrae is demonstrative at every big moment. He celebrates his 3-pointers. He teases defenders with his deft ball-handling and shiftiness. He’s from Milwaukee and was unwanted by the big schools.
Jefferson played against plenty brand names in non-conference games and will do so again Friday.
“When I do play those teams I kind of have an extra edge on my shoulder, like, you kind of missed out on the blessing,” Jefferson said.
Despite having to grow up during suspensions this season that cost him nine games, Jefferson is a leader. On a first-half possession, he stood in the right corner while Clark stood with the ball on the wing.
“He cannot guard. He cannot guard,” Jefferson shouted at Clark, who dribbled into the lane and scored over the defender.
“I’ve got to tell him that about once a game, him and (Derrick) Bruce,” Jefferson said. “But once I tell him that he always gets locked in and he answers. That’s just how he shuts me up. Because if you don’t play I’m going to keep saying it.”
Jefferson also fouled intentionally with 8:35 left and a 54-38 lead. He didn’t like that his team had not scored for three minutes and seemed flat.
“There’s a lot of time on the clock, that’s five 3s and they’re back in the game and we’re rattled,” Jefferson said. “I told them to calm down and let’s use the clock to our advantage.”
Clark said Jefferson will say whatever is necessary to get the team back on track.
“It makes him a good leader because he don’t take no crap,” Clark said.
Jefferson said his teammates know that the message behind the attitude is what matters.
“Them guys know I’m probably going to cuss and scream because I’m little and they’re bigger than me,” he said.
The biggest is 7-foot-2 center Trayvon Reed, a transfer from Auburn who scored 10 points. They have a special relationship.
“I’m little folks,” Jefferson said. “That’s big folks. That’s our nicknames.
Spotlight not too big: Brissett had a big tournament debut after he went down hard on a foul in the first half. He was on the floor for a couple minutes, but he got back up and shot two free throws. He missed them both, but he didn't miss much after that.
“I knew he was going to get back up,” Battle said. “He hit some huge shots. He’s done that countless times this year.”
Brissett was needed because of the attention Battle (19.8 points a game) and Howard (15.0) get from defenses. The Orange have struggled to score consistently other than those three.
“Oshae has been the only other guy that’s been able to get going,” Orange coach Jim Boeheim said. “It’s difficult to win offensively when you’ve got three guys scoring.”
It's not how you start: TSU started the season 0-13. Every loss was on the road at the likes of Gonzaga, Ohio State, Syracuse, Kansas, Clemson and TCU.
“We knew that the record wouldn’t be who we are as a basketball team,” Davis said. “I didn’t design our schedule to make us feel good. I designed the schedule to get us better, and we got better.”
The Tigers are 16-6 since and have won eight straight.
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