SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Prairie View A&M University men's basketball team returns to action in a Saturday afternoon game at Utah.
The Panthers (2-9) and the Utes (6-2) tip just after 5 p.m. CT in the Huntsman Center. The radio broadcast can be heard on the OpenMic Broadcast Network through pvpanthers.com starting with the pregame show at 4:45 p.m. The game can also be watched on the Pac12 Networks.
Prairie View A&M is coming off a 65-52 loss Tuesday at Louisiana Tech. Despite the Panthers dropping another highly competitive contest, head coach
Byron Smith likes the improvement his team is making.
"Louisiana Tech has won 13 straight at home, is 5-0 this season, and we probably played them as tough as anyone has played them this year at home," Smith said. "Once again, we're not into moral victories, but there are a lot of positives that come away from that game. We were minus-5 on the glass against a very good rebounding team. We had 13 steals, which lets me know we really got after it defensively. We had a few mental lapses late, but I think some guys are starting to step up, and starting to understand how we want to play."
The Utes' losses have come to then-#18 Butler at home and at then-#13 Xavier on the road last Saturday. It's the first matchup between the Panthers and Utah, and the second Pac-12 Conference opponent PVAMU has faced this season, along with Oregon State.
"They score a lot," said Smith of Utah, which averages just under 83 points per game. "They are similar to Saint Mary's in that they have multiple guys that can score from the perimeter and are a good three-point shooting team. They are one of the best-coached teams in the country in terms of Larry Krystkowiak, an ex-NBA player who I have a lot of respect for. They are a lot more athletic than they've been in the past. They always been a pretty skilled team, but now they've added some athleticism. They are a formidable foe."
