Busting Brackets
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Texas Southern Basketball: 3 keys to a First Four victory on Wednesday

By Holden Walter-Warner

LAWRENCE, KS - NOVEMBER 21: Mike Davis head coach of the Texas Southern Tigers reacts to a foul call against his team during a game against the Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse on November 21, 2017 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
LAWRENCE, KS - NOVEMBER 21: Mike Davis head coach of the Texas Southern Tigers reacts to a foul call against his team during a game against the Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse on November 21, 2017 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /
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DAYTON, OH – MARCH 19: Head coach Mike Davis of the Texas Southern Tigers motions to his players during the first round of the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Cal Poly Mustangs at UD Arena on March 19, 2014 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DAYTON, OH – MARCH 19: Head coach Mike Davis of the Texas Southern Tigers motions to his players during the first round of the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Cal Poly Mustangs at UD Arena on March 19, 2014 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

2. Put trust in the coach

If the name Mike Davis sounds familiar, it’s because Texas Southern isn’t his first head coaching job in Division I basketball.

While Davis has led the SWAC school for six seasons, taking them to five consecutive postseasons, he has two other stints on his head coaching resume. Prior to the Tigers, he coached the UAB Blazers. The team was a consistent winner during his tenure but never got over the hump, making just one NCAA Tournament appearance and flaming out in the First Four.

Prior to that, however, Davis was the head coach of one of the country’s preeminent programs, the Indiana Hoosiers. He only made it out of the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament once, but that was during his second season when the Hoosiers went all the way to the National Championship Game.

There, they lost to Juan Dixon and the Maryland Terrapins.

In other words, the NCAA Tournament – and winning in the NCAA Tournament – is a familiar concept to Davis.

Mike Davis has carried the Tigers to the postseason nearly every season he’s been in charge; if the team doesn’t have faith in him now, they never will. Trust the coach.

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