PANTHERS MAKE SHORT TRIP TO HOUSTON ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Prairie View A&M is back in action on Wednesday night as they'll travel to Houston to face the University of Houston at 7 p.m. inside Hofheinz Pavilion.  The Panthers have a busy week ahead of them as they'll play at UH on Wednesday, Bryant on Friday and either Siena or Radford on Saturday as they resume play in the 2K Classic's Smithfield, RI bracket.  The Panthers opened the 2015-16 season with a 75-50 loss to Virginia Commonwealth on Friday, Nov. 13.

NEW FACES IN ABUNDANCE
The Prairie View A&M men's basketball program was picked to finish fifth in a preseason poll of the SWAC's head coaches and sports information directors.  The Panthers return one starter, seven lettermen and feature 12 newcomers entering the 2015-16 season.

THE SERIES
Wednesday's game marks just the sixth meeting all-time between both schools despite being located less than an hour from each other.  UH leads the all-time series 3-2 as PVAMU's wins were at Hofheinz (2002) and Prairie View (2012).  The game will also feature plenty of storylines as PVAMU associate head coach Byron Smith returns to his alma mater while UH assistant Talvin Hester served as the top assistant to PVAMU head coach Byron Rimm II from 2005-2010.  In addition, UH head coach Kelvin Sampson will face PVAMU for the first time since the 2002-03 season while serving as head coach at Oklahoma.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS
Head coach Byron Rimm II has a major task ahead of him with the departure of four talented starters from last year's squad. With a roster full of newcomers, Rimm will turn to two-year letterwinner Karim York to lead the way early on as the 6-9 Austin native averaged a career-high 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds while also shooting 46 percent from the field. In addition to York, senior guards Jacoby Green and Jayrn Johnson will take on larger roles this season as both were the first two options off the bench last season along with senior forward Charleston Dobbs and sophomore forward Zach Hamilton.

LAST TIME THEY MET
HOUSTON 80
PRAIRIE VIEW A&M 75
Houston, Texas - Dec. 29, 2012
TaShawn Thomas scored 22 points, grabbed nine rebounds and Houston hit eight 3-pointers in the first half to propel the Cougars to an 80-75 victory over Prairie View A&M on Saturday afternoon.
Houston (10-2) led by as many as 17 in the second half, but watched the Panthers claw their way back, cutting its lead to four after a Rasi Jenkins' lay-up made it 76-72 with 1:29 remaining in the game.
Daniel House, who scored 22 points while going a perfect 7 for 7 from the free-throw line, hit four free throws in the final 21 seconds to seal the deal for the Cougars. Houston was 21 of 26 from the line overall.
Joseph Young scored 17 points for the Cougars and Leon Gibson had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Jourdan DeMuynck led Prairie View (5-8) with 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting and Carl Blair scored 19 points, pulled five rebounds and had five assists.

THE LAST TIME
Under head coach Byron Rimm II, Prairie View A&M is 0-2 at Hofheinz Pavilion as they've played at the facility in 2012 and 2006 under him.  All-time, PVAMU is 1-2 in the facility as they won there in 2002 during their season opener under former PVAMU head coach and UH assistant Jerome Francis, Jr.

PVAMU vs. UH SERIES
Despite being located less than 60 miles from each other, tonight's game only marks the sixth meeting all-time between both schools as the series began in 2002.     
The all-time series favors UH at 3-2 with three games played in Houston and two at Prairie View A&M.  

HOUSTON AND THE SWAC 
The University of Houston is 24-7 all-time against the SWAC dating back to last season. 
With their first game against the SWAC in Mississippi Valley State during the 1986-87 season, the Cougars have faced Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-2), Alcorn State (5-0), Grambling State (5-0), Mississippi Valley State (3-0), PVAMU (3-2), Southern (1-0) and Texas Southern (5-3). PVAMU is UH's lone SWAC opponent this season as they faced Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Mississippi Valley State last season.

HOMECOMING
Prairie View A&M associate head coach Byron Smith will make a return to familiar grounds on Wednesday night as he's a graduate and letter winner at Houston.
A native of Bossier City, La., Smith played at UH from 1989-91 and averaged 17 points per game and shot 45 percent from the field and 42 percent from beyond the three-point line with a career-high of 31 points versus Texas on Jan. 17, 1991.
Smith is UH's career leader in three-point percentage (.423) and led UH in scoring during the 1990-91 season with 17.1 points per game.  He earned NABC All-District 9 honors after the 1990-91 season was second team ALL-SWC in both 1990 and 1991.  UH also made the NCAA Tournament in 1990 and the NIT Tournament in 1991 with Smith.
UH assistant coach Alvin Brooks was a member of the coaching staff when Smith was a player.