JACKSON, Miss.—The Alabama State University (4-9/1-0 SWAC) men's basketball team is used to playing on the road this season and looks to pick up another road win at Jackson State (3-10/1-0 SWAC) on Thursday, Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m.
 
Now that the conference games have started, there is not a lot of turnaround time between games, especially for those teams that are on the road.
 
“It is hard once the season comes around to get ready in two days, but it is what everyone else in the conference is doing,” head coach Lewis Jackson said.  “We have to try and regroup and put Grambling behind us and with the one day we have to prepare for Jackson, we are going to cover as many things as we can.  We will go out and practice based on some of the things they have done in the past.”
 
Even though it is only the second conference outing of the season, the game could have some major implications down the road as ASU and JSU are two of the top SWAC preseason ranked teams as ASU was picked to win the conference crown and JSU was not too far behind, picked to finish third.
 
“The preseason picking is just what it is, preseason picking,” Jackson stated.  “We have to go out and play.  Alabama State and Jackson State has become a strong rivalry and we are all playing for something as we try to position our self for the tournament although it is still early.  These early games are going to set the stage for the way we want to play this year.  It is a great opportunity for us to come to Jackson and anytime you come to Jackson State it is going to be a tall order, but it is one we certainly look forward to come out and compete in.”
 
The game will also pit the preseason players of the year as Jenirro Bush of JSU was voted the SWAC's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and ASU's Ivory White was named the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Bush is living up to his preseason billing as he leads JSU in scoring and is second in the SWAC at 14.9 points per game and is coming off a 21-point performance in JSU's win over Alabama A&M to open conference play.
 
White is having a banner year also.  He is averaging a career-best nine points per game, but he is also averaging almost five rebounds per game and usually has to guard one of the top scorers on the opposition.  White is also one of the top shooters in the conference in field goal (9^th, .431) and three-point field goal percentage (4^th, .382).