Prairie View A&M Panthers
SWAC (22-12, 17-1)
Prairie View A&M has improved dramatically under Coach Byron Smith. After creeping up the SWAC standings the last couple of seasons, the Panthers won the regular season conference title with an impressive 17-1 record. And they kept dominating the league in the conference tournament, earning their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1998.
Big Wins: 11/9 at Santa Clara (81-64), 2/18 at Grambling (92-87), 3/16 vs Texas Southern (92-86)
Bad Losses: 11/17 at Lamar (67-74), 11/21 at East Carolina (64-76), 12/20 at Seattle (64-102)
Coach: Byron Smith
Why They Can Surprise:
The Panthers play a type of defense that can cause some teams lots of trouble. They force a ton of turnovers and will always go for the steal. That can lead to easy buckets for the opposition, but it will lead to easy buckets for Prairie View A&M too. Coach Smith has enough depth on this team to keep everybody playing aggressive defense for the entire game. This team is just as aggressive on offense and will spend plenty of time at the charity stripe. Senior guard Gary Blackston and junior forward Devonte Patterson are not afraid to attack the basket and it is very important that the offense can put points on the board even when outside shots are not falling.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Prairie View A&M has not had much success this season against non-SWAC opposition. They went 1-11 in non-conference games against Division I competition with the lone win coming in the opening game against Santa Clara. However, they did play well against teams like Baylor and Georgia Tech in 11 point losses. The problem that often plagues the Panthers is on the glass. This is one of the worst rebounding teams in the country. They will often make up for it in the turnover department, like in the conference tournament final where they got outrebounded by Texas Southern 43 to 25 and won the turnover battle 25 to 12, but that may not be enough against a tougher NCAA Tournament opponent.
Probable Starters:
Dennis Jones, Senior, Guard, 8.9 ppg, 4.5 apg, 2.1 spg
Gary Blackston, Senior, Guard, 15.2 ppg, 1.8 apg, 7.0 rpg
Gerard Andrus, Junior, Guard, 10.0 ppg, 1.0 apg, 5.7 rpg
Iwin Ellis, Senior, Forward, 3.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg
Devonte Patterson, Junior, Forward, 13.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg
Key Role Players:
Antione Lister, Junior, Guard, 4.8 ppg
Darius Williams, Junior, Guard, 8.9 ppg
Chancellor Ellis, Junior, Guard, 5.1 ppg
Taishaun Johnson, Senior, Guard, 7.2 ppg, 2.4 apg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 73.9 (138th in nation, 2nd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 72.3 (202, 6)
Field-Goal Percentage: 43.6 (226, 4)
Field-Goal Defense: 45.5 (276, 5)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.2 (312, 5)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 31.0 (324, 9)
Free-Throw Percentage: 67.2 (297, 5)
Rebound Margin: -4.5 (329, 10)
Assists Per Game: 12.7 (237, 2)
Turnovers Per Game: 12.9 (168, 1)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
No Recent Tournament History
*all team stats through 3/10
