PANTHERS START KEY, 3-GAME ROAD SWINGFresh off their first win of the season, the Prairie View A&M Panthers return to the court against SWAC rival Texas Southern in the first of a three-game road swing spanning two weeks. The Panthers enter Saturday's showdown looking to put together their first winning streak of the 2015-16 campaign as they'll have a tough test against the 3-0 Tigers. In addition to posting its first winning streak, the opportunity to win two straight contests at TSU awaits for the first time since winning in 2009 and 2010.
NEW FACES IN ABUNDANCEThe 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 have spent non-conference play trying to mold a unit which returned one starter and seven lettermen from the previous season. Junior forward
Admassu Williams leads the team in scoring with 11.4 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game while junior guard
Tevin Bellinger follows with 10.8 points. Williams ranks 13th in the SWAC in scoring, third in rebounding, 10th in field goal percentage (47.3%) and tied for second in blocked shots with 0.9 per game while Bellinger ranks 10th in steals (1.4). Returnees Zach Hamilton and
Karim York average 9.5 points and 7.4 points per game, respectively with Hamilton averaging 21.5 points and 4.5 rebounds over the past two games.
THE SERIESIn the overall series dating back to 1980, TSU holds a 59-20 mark against PVAMU with 18 of PVAMU's wins occurring in 1997 or later. PVAMU and TSU last met in March of 2015 in the second round of the SWAC Tournament with TSU prevailing. PVAMU head coach
Byron Rimm II is 8-15 lifetime versus Texas Southern and 2-6 when coaching against TSU's Mike Davis on the sidelines. Davis is 6-2 against PVAMU as TSU's head coach.
ABOUT THE PANTHERSHead coach
Byron Rimm II has a major task ahead of him with the 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. Two-year letterwinner
Karim York and sophomore Zach Hamilton has emerged as threats off the bench. With the team trying to gel still, the Panthers have used eight different starting lineup combinations this season.
