The &uot;Wiz&uot; visits &uot;The Pit.&uot; Alcorn State, 0-1, hopes to rebound from a lopsided loss to Southern Mississippi Sunday with a good showing at the Furr’s Supermarket Lobo Classic Tournament.

Alcorn faces Tennessee-Chattanooga today at approximately 8 p.m.

&uot;We need to regain our mental toughness,&uot; said Alcorn State head basketball coach Davey &uot;Wiz&uot; Whitney after his team’s 88-58 loss to USM. &uot;That was something we lacked during the Southern Mississippi game which was evident by two technical fouls. We are not where we need to be at this point. We need to get better going into this tournament.&uot;

The first game of the tournament today has host New Mexico facing Sam Houston.

The third place and championship games will be played Saturday.

Alcorn shot 29.5 percent from the field against USM.

&uot;Overall we played a selfish game,&uot; Whitney said. &uot;We definitely did not play smart which caused us to struggle offensively. I am not disappointed that we got beat, I am disappointed in the fact that we got beat playing selfish basketball. Also, we did not play a very physical game. We did not do a good job on defense, especially in the low post.&uot;

Natchez freshman James West scored eight points in the contest in 13 minutes of action.

&uot;At the point guard position, West was much more active than our other two point guards, T.C. (Tremayne Chambers and (Corey) Mangham,&uot; Whitney said. &uot;West seems to do a better job at penetration than the other two who played a little stale.&uot;

Sophomore Marcus Fleming of Fayette leads the Braves in scoring after netting 12 against Southern Mississippi.

West is the second-leading scorer, followed by Terrance Cameron of Port Gibson with 6.0 points.

Tennessee-Chattanooga is 0-1.

&uot;It is probably going to be a tough ball game,&uot; Whitney said. &uot;I just hope that we are able to play a little better offensive basketball.&uot;

Sam Houston is coached by Bob Marlin, a 1981 graduate of Mississippi State.