PANTHERS LOOKING FOR SECOND STRAIGHT WINPrairie View A&M continues the second half of SWAC play with a trip to Jackson, Miss.to face Jackson State in a game which has sole possession of fourth place on the line. Both teams are tied at 5-5 with the winner claiming fourth place.
Both teams are playing solid basketball at this point as JSU has won three straight and four of its past five while the Panthers have won five of the past seven games.
HONOR A FALLEN PANTHERHead coach
Byron Rimm II and the Prairie View A&M family lost a former Panther recently in former student-athlete Mayol Riathin. Riathin, who played for the Panthers from 2011-2013, died recently in a car accident which took place in the state of Wyoming. Riathin wore No. 33 during his tenure at PVAMU and the number will not be worn this season as it was originally assigned to
Nolan Wilson.
THE SERIESSince 1980, Jackson State has dominated the Panthers as they hold a 55-20 record. However, the Panthers have begun to slowly chip away as they've won six of the past eight and four consecutive match-ups versus the Tigers. PVAMU's four-game streak over JSU makes the longest in series history.
ABOUT THE PANTHERSPrairie View A&M returns four starters from last year's team which advanced to the finals of the SWAC Basketball Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Panthers also return a total of six letterwinners but lose a total of seven lettermen. Senior guard
Montrael Scott received first team preseason honors as the Prairie View A&M men's basketball team was picked to finish sixth in the annual SWAC Men's Basketball Preseason poll. Scott, who surpassed the 1,000-point plateau in his career on Jan. 24, is PVAMU's top scorer and ranks third in the SWAC with 15.7 points per game. Senior guard
John Brisco ranks 18th in the SWAC and second on the team in scoring with 10.3 points per game while senior guard
Tre Hagood follows with 9.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists. Junior post
Karim York is the team's leading rebounder with 5.2 per game along with chipping in 9.8 points.
THE LAST TIMESince 1980, Jackson State has dominated the Panthers as they hold a 55-20 record. However, the Panthers have begun to slowly chip away as they've won six of the past eight and four consecutive match-ups versus the Tigers. PVAMU's four-game streak over JSU makes the longest in series history.
RIMM vs. JSUSaturday's game marks the 21st time head coach
Byron Rimm II will face JSU. As the head coach at PVAMU, Rimm holds a 9-11 mark against the Tigers. Seventeen of those meetings occurred in the regular season while three contests took place in the 2009, 2011 and 2013 SWAC Tournaments.
When playing in the city of Jackson, JSU has been virtually unstoppable against the Panthers as the Tigers have dominated with a 20-4 record since 1990. PVAMU's
Byron Rimm II has three of the four wins in 2008, 2012 and 2014.
ROAD WARRIORSIn non-conference play, the Panthers have lived out their suitcases this fall as 12 of their 13 contests were away from campus. Prairie View A&M traveled to a total of four states (Hawai'i', Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee) and played in three different time zones (Central, Hawaii-Aleutian, Pacific).
The team's lone non-conference home game took place on Dec. 3 versus Schreiner.
DEFEND THE 3The Panthers lead the SWAC in three-point field goal defense as their holding teams to 29.8 percent shooting.
