ATLANTA, Ga. | Jackson State will open play in the Toyota Chris Paul HBCU Classic on Thursday evening against Hampton, the first of two games in two days for the Tigers, at Gateway Center Arena.

The game is scheduled to tip at 5 p.m. [ET] on ESPNU, and is the first game of session two on the day.

This will be the first meeting between the two schools, and the second time in three years that Jackson State has played in the premier in-season tournament. Daeshun Ruffin leads Jackson State averaging 14.9 points and 3.0 assists per game, and was named the SWAC Impact Player of the Week after his 28-point performance on the road at Kennesaw State - the second award this season for Ruffin. Meanwhile, Jayme Mitchell Jr. is averaging 12.4 points and 3.6 rebounds, while Dorian McMillian is averaging 10.2 points per game for the Tigers.

Game Info - Jackson State at Northwestern
Thursday, Dec. 18 | 5:00 p.m. [ET] | Gateway Center Arena
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Jackson State Game Notes (.pdf)
Hampton Game Notes (.pdf)
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Game Notes

• The game last week at Houston [seventh]marked the fifth game against a nationally-ranked opponent after Jackson State has faced [ranked at the time] Illinois [17th], Louisville [11th], Auburn [20th], and Arkansas [14th] so far this season.
• Mike Williams had a career game against Kennesaw State finishing with a career-high 12 points, earning his first start on the road against Houston.
• Ruffin was named the SWAC Impact Player of the Week for the first week of the season after he averaged 17.0 points per game in the two games of the season against No. 14/17 Illinois and No. 10/11 Louisville on the road. He was also named the SWAC Impact Player of the Week following the Kennesaw State contest.
• Delyle Williams got his first start of the year with Ruffin missing the Winthrop game [11.23]. 
• Head coach Mo Williams has two sons on the bench [at least at some point this season] with his son KyDarrius serving as a an assistant coach, while another of his sons - Mike - comes in as a highly-touted recruit from Germantown High School.
• Mitchell missed his career high in points by just two when he scored 24 points against Auburn, while Ebo Wilson equaled his career-high with eight rebounds.
• Jackson State has the second toughest schedule in the country entering this week.
• The home game against Winthrop was the first non-conference home game in six years.
• Jackson State held Louisiana to 45 points, the lowest point total an opponent has scored since Mississippi Valley State [Feb. 8] was held to 44 in Jackson State win in the lone win of the 2025 season.
• The Tigers have now dressed every player on the roster with the exception of Keveion Hunt, who is expected to miss the entire season rehabbing a knee injury he suffered in the SWAC Championship Game last season.
• Jackson State has used nine different starting line-ups in 10 games this season.
• This week will mark the first two games for Jackson State against an HBCU after playing nine of 10 games on the road. Ironically, the Tigers will play 20 of their final 21 games against fellow HBCUs beginning this week.
• Jackson State is no stranger to the Chris Paul Classic, playing in the tournament in Las Vegas back in December 2023. During that week, the Tigers defeated both Howard [MEAC] and North Carolina A&T [CAA].
• Jackson State is no stranger to the Gateway Center Arena, having played the Southwestern Athletic Conference [SWAC] Basketball Championships last season. The Tigers played three games inside the arena - defeating Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman - before falling to Alabama State in the championship game. This year's roster features seven players who have seen action in the arena - six with the Tigers and Dionjahe Thomas with Southern last season.

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