Prairie View A&M heads east to face Alabama A&M on Saturday evening in Huntsville, Ala. as the program attempts to return to its winning ways.  The Panthers received a bout of unexpected news on Tuesday evening as head coach Byron Rimm II resigned.  Assistant coach Byron Smith takes over for the Panthers on an interim basis as he's charged with ending PVAMU's five-game SWAC slide.

NEW FACES IN ABUNDANCE
Junior guard Tevin Bellinger is PVAMU's scoring leader with 11.8 points per game while nailing a team-high 21 three-pointers and leads the SWAC in free throw percentage with an 86.3 percent clip. Junior forward Admassu Williams ranks second in scoring with 10.3 points and leads the team with 6.5 rebounds per game. Williams ranks 21st in the SWAC in scoring, fifth in rebounding, ninth in field goal percentage (45%) and seventh in blocked shots with 0.8 per game while senior guard Avery Lomax leads the team and ranks eighth in the SWAC with 1.6 steals.

THE SERIES
Alabama A&M has dominated the Panthers since the series began in 1999 with a 23-13 overall record. Both teams split the season series in 1999 but AAMU took control from that point and reeled off seven straight wins before PVAMU swept them in 2003. After splitting the series in 2004, AAMU won four straight before PVAMU captured a win in 2007. The Bulldogs won both outings in 2008 and 2011 and split in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013 with the Panthers. PVAMU has currently won three straight over AAMU as this matches their longest streak over the Bulldogs since winning three straight from 2012-2013.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS
The Panthers are still trying to find their identity with departure of four talented senior starters from last year's squad. With a roster full of newcomers, guard Tevin Bellinger and Admassu Williams have emerged as the team's top two scoring threats while returning guard Jayrn Johnson has moved into a starting role. With the team trying to gel still, the Panthers have used eight different starting lineup combinations this season.