First up are the Jags who enter the game with 12 wins (12-7/4-2 SWAC) which are the most wins by any team in the conference.  Among those wins are over Mississippi State (76-72), Tulane (90-82), Southeast Louisiana (73-69) and Wyoming (68-58).
 
"Southern is a very good team," Head Coach Lewis Jackson said.  "They have a set of what could be the best guards in the conference, and you throw in their bigs in the paint and they are a very formidable opponent.  We will have to pick our game up substantially to be in this game."
 
The Hornets (6-11/1-4 SWAC) find themselves in a position they are not used to and that is a slow start in conference play.  Three of the first five SWAC games have gone into overtime and two of those were losses.
 
Of the Hornets 11 losses this season, seven of those have come by a combined 32 points or 4.5 points per game.  Those are the game ASU has to find a way to win.
 
"We have not made the plays down the stretch to win those games," Jackson said.  "We take a bad shot, miss a free throw, turn the ball over or have a missed defensive assignment and we just can't overcome those mistakes and bad decisions."
 
Tony Armstrong (13 ppg/6.2 rpg) and Corvon Butler (9.5 ppg/5.5 rpg) continue to play well when they are on the court.  Armstrong, who missed the team's first eight games, has added some muscle and punch to the Hornets post play.  The redshirt junior is shooting over 51 percent from the field.  He would be listed among the conference leaders in several categories had he not missed the first part of the season.
 
Butler has spent the past two weeks nursing an injury, which has taken him out of the starting lineup.  He has played some minutes fighting through the injury as he did against Alabama A&M when he scored six points and had six rebounds in only 18 minutes of action.
 
ASU is looking for more consistent play from playmaker Jamel Waters, Steve Rogers and Bobby Brown.  While all three have the ability to score 20 on any given night, they are not shooting the ball as well from the perimeter as they have in the past.
 
Waters (14.4 ppg) is still fourth in the league in scoring, and is also shooting a career-best .438 from beyond the three-point line, but he is shooting a career-worse .385 from the field and also a career-worse .700 at the free throw line.

Rogers (9.1 ppg) was the SWAC's Freshman of the Year last season and also led the conference in three point shooting knocking down half of his attempts.  This season that mark has dropped off as he is only shooting 30 percent on his threes and 34 percent from the field.
 
Brown has hovered around the double digits average all season and enters the weekend with a 9.6 ppg average and a 5.8 rpg average.  He is shooting 43 percent from the field since the team has started conference play, but is only seven of 19 on his three point attempts during that stretch.
 
Southern has a trio of players entering the game averaging in double figures, led by Adrian Rogers 15.4, which is second in the conference.
 
Trelun Banks averages 12.8 points and Southern's big man in the middle Jared Sam uses his 6'-9" frame to average 10.8 points and a team-best 6.8 rebounds per game, which is among the top five in the SWAC.
 
ASU and Southern can be heard live on the ASU Hornets Sports Network beginning with the pregame show immediately following the women's game.  Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.  Check Game Day Central at bamastatesports.com for all the live action options.