2021–22 Nicholls Colonels men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Nicholls Colonels men's basketball team represented Nicholls State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Colonels, led by fourth-year head coach Austin Claunch, played their home games at Stopher Gymnasium in Thibodaux, Louisiana as members of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 21–12, 11–3 in Southland Play to finish as regular season champions. They lost in the semifinals of the Southland tournament to Texas A&M Corpus-Christi. As a No. 1 seed who didn’t win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to SMU.

2021–22 Nicholls Colonels men's basketball
Southland regular season champions
NIT, First Round
Conference	Southland Conference
Record	21–12 (11–3 Southland)
Head coach	Austin Claunch (4th season)
Associate head coach	Nick Bowman
Assistant coaches	Darion Brown Stevie Taylor
Home arena	Stopher Gymnasium
Seasons ← 2020–21 2022–23 →

2021–22 Southland Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Nicholls	11	–	3		.786			21	–	12		.636
Southeastern Louisiana	10	–	4		.714			19	–	15		.559
New Orleans	10	–	4		.714			18	–	14		.563
Texas A&M–Corpus Christi †	7	–	7		.500			23	–	12		.657
Houston Baptist	6	–	8		.429			11	–	18		.379
Northwestern State	5	–	9		.357			9	–	23		.281
McNeese State	4	–	10		.286			11	–	22		.333
Incarnate Word	3	–	11		.214			7	–	25		.219
† 2022 Southland tournament winner

Previous season

The Colonels finished the 2020–21 season 18–7, 14–2 in Southland play to finish as Southland regular season champions. In the Southland tournament, they defeated Northwestern State in the semifinals,^[1] before falling to Abilene Christian in the championship game.^[2]

Roster

2021–22 Nicholls Colonels men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 0 Ty Gordon 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Sr Tunica, MS F 1 Emmanuel Little 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Sr Indianapolis, IN G 2 Tyrease Terrell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Slidell, LA G 3 Jon'Quarius McGhee 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Opelousas, LA G 4 Caleb Huffman 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Broken Arrow, OK G 5 Pierce Spencer 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Porter, TX F 10 Ryan Maxwell 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Fr Jacksonville, AR G 11 Latrell Jones 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr New Orleans, LA F 12 Taylor Blanchard 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Morgan City, LA F 13 Mekhi Collins 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Baton Rouge, LA G 14 Devante Carter 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr Newport News, VA G 21 Jalen White 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Pasadena, TX F 22 Manny Littles 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Lanett, AL F 23 Edoardo Del Cadia 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Senigallia, Italy G 24 Quinn Strander 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Thibodaux, LA C 35 Ryghe Lyons 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 280 lb (127 kg) RS Sr Slidell, LA	Head coach Austin Claunch (Emory) Assistant coach(es) Nick Bowman (Eastern Kentucky) Darion Brown (Our Lady of the Lake) Stevie Taylor (Ohio) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 13, 2021

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 23, 2021* 1:00 pm		LSU Hurricane Ida Charity Relief	L 62–74	–	Stopher Gymnasium  Thibodaux, LA
Non-conference regular season
November 9, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Northern Iowa	W 62–58	1–0	McLeod Center (2,328) Cedar Falls, IA
November 12, 2021* 7:00 pm		Carver	W 120–52	2–0	Stopher Gymnasium (321) Thibodaux, LA
November 13, 2021* 12:00 pm		Carver	W 101–44	3–0	Stopher Gymnasium (202) Thibodaux, LA
November 15, 2021* 11:00 am, ESPN+		at No. 9 Baylor	L 60–89	3–1	Ferrell Center (9,307) Waco, TX
November 18, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at TCU SoCal Challenge campus-site game	L 50–63	3–2	Schollmaier Arena (4,825) Fort Worth, TX
November 22, 2021* 2:00 pm, FloHoops		vs. Cal Poly SoCal Challenge Sand Division semifinals	W 75–72 OT	4–2	The Pavilion at JSerra  San Juan Capistrano, CA
November 24, 2021* 4:30 pm, FloHoops		vs. Utah Valley SoCal Challenge Sand Division championship	L 63–74	4–3	The Pavilion at JSerra (1,700) San Juan Capistrano, CA
November 27, 2021* 1:30 pm		Southwestern Christian	W 87–58	5–3	Stopher Gymnasium (504) Thibodaux, LA
December 9, 2021* 7:00 pm		at Mississippi Valley State	W 95–80	6–3	Harrison HPER Complex (202) Itta Bena, MS
December 13, 2021* 7:00 pm		Blue Mountain	W 87–69	7–3	Stopher Gymnasium (285) Thibodaux, LA
December 15, 2021* 7:00 pm, BTN		at Wisconsin	L 68–71	7–4	Kohl Center (15,752) Madison, WI
December 18, 2021* 3:00 pm		Mississippi Valley State	W 104–73	8–4	Stopher Gymnasium (287) Thibodaux, LA
December 21, 2021* 10:00 pm, P12N		at Oregon State	L 61–83	8–5	Gill Coliseum (2,873) Corvallis, OR
December 29, 2021* 4:00 pm, BTN		at No. 3 Purdue	L 90–104	8–6	Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN
January 6, 2022* 7:30 pm, ESPN+		vs. Incarnate Word Southland Basketball Tip-Off First Round	W 87–56	9–6	Merrell Center (102) Katy, TX
January 7, 2022* 7:30 pm, ESPN+		vs. Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Southland Tip-Off Tournament semifinals	W 84–75	10–6	Merrell Center  Katy, TX
January 8, 2022* 7:30 pm, ESPN+		vs. Southeastern Louisiana Southland Tip-Off tournament championship	L 72–77	10–7	Merrell Center  Katy, TX
Southland regular season
January 15, 2022 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at New Orleans	L 66–78	10–8 (0–1)	Lakefront Arena (1,102) New Orleans, LA
January 20, 2022 7:30 pm		Northwestern State	W 69–58	11–8 (1–1)	Stopher Gymnasium (325) Thibodaux, LA
January 22, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+		Southeastern Louisiana	L 93–101	11–9 (1–2)	Stopher Gymnasium (501) Thibodaux, LA
January 27, 2022 7:30 pm		at McNeese State	W 81–71	12–9 (2–2)	The Legacy Center (1,734) Lake Charles, LA
January 29, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Houston Baptist	W 73–61	13–9 (3–2)	Sharp Gymnasium (901) Houston, TX
February 3, 2022 7:30 pm		at Incarnate Word	W 63–60	14–9 (4–2)	McDermott Center (20) San Antonio, TX
February 10, 2022 7:00 pm		Incarnate Word	W 69–58	15–9 (5–2)	Stopher Gymnasium (401) Thibodaux, LA
February 12, 2022 3:00 pm		Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	W 83–80 OT	16–9 (6–2)	Stopher Gymnasium (332) Thibodaux, LA
February 17, 2022 7:00 pm		McNeese State	W 82–73	17–9 (7–2)	Stopher Gymnasium (1,121) Thibodaux, LA
February 19, 2022 3:00 pm		Houston Baptist	W 84–70	18–9 (8–2)	Stopher Gymnasium (487) Thibodaux, LA
February 24, 2022 7:30 pm		at Northwestern State	W 80–62	19–9 (9–2)	Prather Coliseum (772) Natchitoches, LA
February 26, 2022 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Southeastern Louisiana	L 81–83	19–10 (9–3)	University Center (771) Hammond, LA
March 2, 2022 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	W 86–75	20–10 (10–3)	American Bank Center (1,648) Corpus Christi, TX
March 5, 2022 3:00 pm		New Orleans	W 92–85	21–10 (11–3)	Stopher Gymnasium (1,355) Thibodaux, LA
Southland tournament
March 11, 2022 5:00 pm, ESPN+	(1)	vs. (4) Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Semifinals	L 64–71	21–11	Merrell Center  Katy, TX
NIT
March 16, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at (1) SMU First Round – SMU Bracket	L 58–68	21–12	Moody Coliseum (2,038) University Park, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Source^[3]