Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

[HarkTheSound]

Texas Southern (15-7)vs Alcorn State (7-11)

February 13, 2009

Lorman, Mississippi - The Texas Southern Tigers felt as if they blew a chance to take control of the SWAC after losing in their last contest to Alabama State. They rebounded from that tough loss and obliterated the Alcorn State for the second time in 8 days Friday night.

The Tigers pounded the ball inside as they scored 60 points in the paint. They also out-rebounded the Braves 43-22, including 19 offensive rebounds compared to 5. The dominance inside helped the Tigers attempt 31 more shots than the Braves. The Tigers defense was stifling after being embarrassed by Alabama State, and really clamped down on the Braves and forced tough shots all night long.

Offensively, the Tigers were not extremely efficient, but the offensive rebounds and second change opportunities made up for some sloppy possessions.

Texas Southern 85 Alcorn State 55

Coach Martinez Minute: I was proud of the way the team came out tonight and dominated from the start after the tough loss on Monday. I was especially happy with the way C Laurence Garza came out and made his presence known in the paint considering he only grabbed 4 boards against Alabama State. Our inside play really carried us tonight and was the reason why we came out on top.

Quick Stats:

Texas Southern
FG: 35/75
3PT: 5/13
FT: 10/10

SG Lawrence Danner-Johnson - 16 pts, 3 rebs, 3 asts
PF Keithtrick Denson - 14 pts, 7 rebs, 4 asts
C Laurence Garza - 15 pts, 13 rebs
SG Micah Flowers - 11 pts, 5 rebs
PF Damien Allen - 10 pts, 6 rebs

Alcorn State
FG: 18/44
3PT: 4/18
FT: 15/23

PG Alex Savannah - 12 pts, 4 asts
SG Keith Searcy - 11 pts, 4 rebs, 3 asts
C Michael Starks - 11 pts, 7 rebs

[HarkTheSound]

NCAA Hoops Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Feb 16, 2009
RK	TEAM (VOTES)	RECORD
1	Duke	18-5
2	Baylor	20-4
3	Maryland	20-6
4	Florida State	18-5
5	Louisville	19-6
6	Texas	18-5
7	Kansas	16-6
8	Tennessee	17-5
9	UConn	20-6
10	Marquette	18-6
11	Oklahoma State	16-4
12	Pittsburgh	18-6
13	Xavier	21-3
14	South Carolina	20-4
15	Memphis	15-4
16	Washington State	19-6
17	UCLA	18-6
18	Kentucky	18-8
19	West Virginia	18-7
20	Saint Louis	20-5
21	Georgia Tech	19-7
22	Iowa State	19-5
23	Minnesota	19-7
24	Notre Dame	16-8
25	Purdue	17-6

[HarkTheSound]

Alabama A&M (6-15)vs Texas Southern (16-7)
February 16, 2009

Houston, Texas - After handily beating Alabama A&M earlier in the year, The Texas Southern Tigers were expecting a closer contest in the second meeting. A&M has underachieved all season, as they were projected to win the SWAC considering their talent level.

This game was a slugfest as neither side could hit much from the outside (A&M was 1-19 from 3 and Texas Southern was 4-17) and were forced to score most of their points in the paint.

The Tigers would take a 40-28 lead into the half, but they could not hit the broad side of a barn in the second. Luckily for them, the defense came to play and got enough stops to hold on to the win, despite the offense at one point failing to score for a 7 minute stretch during the second half.

Texas Southern 64 Alabama A&M 54

Martinez Minute: We definitely didn't play our best game today, but I'm proud of the guys for gutting out the win despite our outside shots not falling. Danner-Johnson and (C Laurence) Garza helped score just enough for us to hold on to the win. I think our 37-26 rebounding advantage was the biggest factor in this game as we didn't allow them to get very many second shots after misses, which happened a lot for both sides tonight.

Stats:

Texas Southern
FG: 27/59
3PT: 4/17
FT: 6/13

SG Lawrence Danner-Johnson - 19 pts, 2 rebs, 3 asts
C Laurence Garza - 14 pts, 11 rebs

Alabama A&M
FG: 23/58
3PT: 1/19
FT: 7/8

PF Casey Cantey - 10 pts, 4 rebs, 2 stls
C Uka Winter - 13 pts, 8 rebs

[HarkTheSound]

1. Arkansas Pine-Bluff (12-14, 9-3)
2. Texas Southern (17-7, 10-4)
3. Alabama State (8-11, 7-5)
4. Alcorn State (7-12, 6-5)
5. Grambling (8-14, 5-6)
6. Jackson State (7-13, 5-7)
7. Mississippi Valley State (6-16, 5-7)
8. Alabama A&M (6-16, 5-8)
9. Southern (8-16, 4-7)
10. Prairie View (9-15, 4-8)

[HarkTheSound]

Quote: Originally Posted by xlegendkillax

SF Seamus Burns, 6’7’’ 228 pounds; OVR: #101, POS: #16 PG Chauncey Trammell, 6’0’’ 171 pounds; OVR: #170 POS: #52 C Stanley Melvin, 7’0”” 255 pounds; OVR: #316 POS: #21

Martinez Adds New Recruit to Target List

Coach Logan Martinez had 5 available scholarships to begin the year, and has put 3 of them to good use thus far. Though they have not signed a LOI, Seamus Burns has verbally committed to Texas Southern, while it is believed Trammell and Melvin are close to doing so as well.

Burns looks to be the star of the class, as the do-it-all forward from Houston, Texas, will give be instant contributor for his hometown team.

Martinez is now seriously pursuing Karim Freeman, a 6'9'' 235 pound Center from Mission Viejo, California. Freeman is ranked #238 according to Rivals.com and is the #15 Center prospect.

Martinez wants to add front-court depth to go alongside potential signee C Stan Melvin as Texas Southern loses 2 big men in the rotation (including starter Keithtrick Denson) to graduation this off-season.

Martinez wants to develop a recruiting pipeline to California to go alongside the talent in Texas to help the Tigers' program prosper in the future.

[HarkTheSound]

Short recaps from the last 3 games since I updated.

Texas Southern 88 Jackson State 66
L. Danner-Johnson - 20 pts, 5 asts
K. Denson - 21 pts, 4 rebs
L. Garza - 21 pts, 12 rebs


Texas Southern 73 Mississippi Valley State 43
K Denson - 15 pts
L. Garza - 17 pts, 12 rebs


Texas Southern 64 Prairie View 53
L. Danner-Johnson 19 pts
K. Denson 13 pts
L. Garza 10 pts, 11 rebs

Coach Logan Martinez has won his first regular season conference championship! With one game remaining on the schedule, the Tigers have, at the very least, secured an NIT bid.

With a 13-4 record in SWAC play, Texas Southern sits comfortably atop the standings as the closest competitors (Arkansas Pine-Bluff (11-5), Alabama State (10-6) and Alcorn State (11-7) are officially eliminated from contention.

The Tigers last game of the season will be this Saturday on Senior Day vs Grambling. The Tigers will look to avenge an early season loss against a team that has a 2-1 record against Martinez since he took over the Texas Southern program.

[HarkTheSound]

Grambling State (9-19)vs Texas Southern (20-7)
March 7, 2009

Houston, Texas - The Texas Southern Tigers closed the regular season with a 56-47 win over Grambling on Senior Day. The game was not pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but the Tigers hit their shots when it mattered.

The Tigers avenged an early season loss to Grambling as they finish the year 14-4 in SWAC play.

SG Lawrence Danner-Johnson led the Tigers in scoring with 14, C Laurence Garza contributed 12, and Senior Keithtrick Denson chipped in 12 to help the Tigers pull away in the second half after they were down 32-26 at the break.

The Tigers end the year on a 6 game winning streak and will look to carry that momentum into the postseason, where they will be seeking their first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Texas Southern 56 Grambling 47

[HarkTheSound]

1. Texas Southern (21-7, 14-4)
2. Arkansas Pine-Bluff (16-17, 12-6)
3. Alabama State (12-14, 11-7)
4. Alcorn State (12-15, 11-7)
5. Mississippi Valley State (11-18, 9-9)
6. Prairie View (13-18, 7-11)
7. Jackson State (9-18, 7-11)
8. Alabama A&M (8-19, 7-11)
9. Southern (10-21, 6-12)
10. Grambling (9-20, 6-12)

SWAC TOURNAMENT BRACKET - Birmingham Alabama

1. Texas Southern
8. Alabama A&M

4. Alcorn State
5. Mississippi Valley State

3. Alabama State
6. Prairie View

2. Arkansas Pine-Bluff
7. Jackson State