How Mo Williams found positives after SWAC loss

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Jackson State basketball coach Mo Williams end-of-season press conference

Watch Jackson State men’s basketball coach Mo Williams’ end-of-season press conference Wednesday following the Tigers’ loss in the SWAC final.

Coach Mo Williams sees the SWAC championship game loss as motivation for the team heading into next season.

The Jackson State men’s basketball team wanted to end its 18-year NCAA tournament drought, and the only way it could do it this season was to win the SWAC tournament championship and its automatic berth.

The Tigers got to the final, but lost to Alabama State 60-56 on Saturday.

” . . . We had a goal coming into the season to go to the NCAA tournament,” Jackson State coach Mo Williams said at a news conference Wednesday. “Obviously, we fell a couple minutes short of that. But being proud of the guys is no understatement. Extremely proud of our guys. I thought we answered the bell all season.”

JSU finished the regular season 14-17 overall, 14-4 in the conference. It was 0-13 against non-conference opponents, but the players believed that competition set them up for a strong conference performance and the No. 2 seed in the SWAC tournament.

Despite the missed chance at the NCAA tournament berth, Williams, in his third season, found positives that outweighed the negatives of the season.

“The only thing that was negative was the championship game,” he said. “But outside of that, man, we took care of business. When conference play started, we won 16 out of 20 heading into that championship game.

“We won games, not playing well, just sticking together. We stayed together as a team. I mean, everything was a positive. I think that’s why we were so devastated in that championship game, because everything was going so good. Everybody bought into their roles.”

Freshman guard Dorian McMillian was named SWAC Freshman of the Year and center Shannon Grant was All-SWAC second team. Daeshun Ruffin was nominated for the 2025 Howell Trophy, awarded annually to the top men’s college…

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Source link : https://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/college/jackson-state/2025/03/19/jackson-state-basketball-mo-williams-swac-championship/82418600007/

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Publish date : 2025-03-20 03:02:00

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