With a late-season push, Prairie View A&M basketball enters the tournament as winners of 9 of its last 10 games.
The SWAC’s fourth unique champion in four years, Prairie View A&M managed to earn a bid to the big dance for the first time since 2019 and third time in program history. The Panthers are slated to take on Lehigh in the First Four in Dayton on Wednesday.
How they got there:
Prairie View A&M basketball suffered through a tough non-conference schedule, going on the road to take on Missouri, Wichita State, Oklahoma State, LSU, Texas A&M, North Texas, and South Dakota. They drew UT Martin and North Florida in the Pensacola Invitational, beating the Ospreys. While Prairie View started 3-1 in SWAC competition, the Panthers battled through a 1-7 stretch that left them with a 9-16 record overall and a 4-8 conference record on Feb. 14. Four of those wins came against non-D-I opponents.
But then, something switched. The Panthers started winning games, and they didn’t stop. Prairie View A&M basketball won five of six to finish the regular season behind strong performances from Dontae Horne. Once the conference tournament started, the team’s momentum stayed. They defeated Alcorn State in the second round, upset the top-seeded Bethune-Cookman Wildcats in the quarters, then took down Alabama A&M to set up a matchup with Southern in the championship game.
With just under 13 minutes to go in the game, Prairie View A&M basketball led by 22 points. All signs pointed to an easy victory. But Southern wouldn’t let up, going on an extended 25-7 run to pull within four points with less than three minutes in the game. The Jaguars eventually brought the margin to just two points with under a minute, but Dontae Horne’s layup sealed the victory for Prairie View. He was named the tournament MVP, and senior guard Lance Williams joined him on the SWAC All-Tournament Team.
General Information:
Team: Prairie View A&M
Location: Prairie View, Texas
Record: 18-17 (9-9)
Head Coach: Byron Smith (9th season overall, all at Prairie View)
What to know about Prairie View A&M basketball:
Prairie View A&M basketball will push the pace; that much we know. According to KenPom, the Panthers have the 23rd-quickest offense in the nation, and the eighth-fastest amongst tournament teams. That’s led to a season average of 75.7 PPG, second in the SWAC. They lead their conference in free throws taken per game. In fact, the Panthers are in the top 20 nationally with an average of 25.3 free throws per game. Over their last 10 games, that number has dropped slightly to 22.3 per game.
On the individual level, Dontae Horne is the team’s leading scorer and arguably the best pure scorer in the SWAC. Horne has a season average of 20.9 PPG, and against SWAC teams, that rate rises to 24.3 PPG. His best game came against Southern in the regular season, where he scored 46 of Prairie View’s 82 points in 39 minutes of action. Horne takes most of his shots from inside the arc, but he does have seven games of 3+ makes from deep this season. Over the course of the season, he has more 20+ point games (18) than games where he scored less than 20 (13).
Other contributors include guard Tai’Reon Joseph, who missed eight games in February but returned for the SWAC tournament. Joseph is second on the team with 16.9 PPG and set a season high of 34 points against LSU in the non-conference portion of the schedule. Joseph has four games of 30+ points on the season.
Forward Cory Wells is the team’s leading rebounder at 6.9 RPG, and he’s started every game for the Panthers this season. Wells also adds 13.2 PPG. The team’s glue guy is the aforementioned Lance Williams. Over the team’s last 10 games, Williams is averaging an absurd 39.5 MPG. He rarely leaves the court. Williams is one of the best shooters on the team, averaging a clip of 47.1% from deep in his last 10 games.
NCAA Tournament prediction for Prairie View A&M basketball: Round of 64 exit
Seed: 16
Prairie View A&M basketball drew Lehigh in the First Four, allowing the spotlight to gaze upon what is currently one of the most underrated teams in the country. The Panthers don’t have any wins that aren’t Q4, but Lehigh would qualify as a Q4 game. The Mountain Hawks are the closest team to Prairie View in the latest KenPom ratings, and it’s about as equal of a matchup as you’ll see in the First Four 16 seed games.
Both teams have about the same record, with Prairie View at 18-17 and Lehigh at 18-16. The Mountain Hawks have a guard that’s been playing exceptionally well recently, Nasir Whitlock. Whitlock, in his last five games, is averaging 23.4 PPG.
But Prairie View has its answer in Dontae Horne. This will be a fantastic basketball game with amazing backcourts, and we believe the Panthers have the edge. But to get past Florida? That’s a Herculean task, and the Panthers simply don’t have the size to match up with the Gators frontcourt.