SWAC TOURNAMENT TIME FOR THE PANTHERS
Prairie View A&M starts its postseason run Thursday afternoon against the Tigers of Jackson State at 2:30 p.m. inside the Toyota Center. The Panthers closed out the 2015-16 regular on a positive note as they defeated Southern in convincing fashion and enter the tournament riding a wave of momentum. The Panthers enter the tournament as the No. 6 seed after ascending from last place to open the second half of SWAC play.  Since Feb. 20, the Panthers have won four of their past six contests. In postseason play, PVAMU has advanced to the semifinal round for three consecutive seasons.

THE SERIES
Since 1980, Jackson State has dominated the Panthers as they hold a 56-22 record. However, the Panthers have begun to slowly chip away as they've won eight of the past 12. Jackson State snapped PVAMU's series-best six-game winning streak over them in January and claimed the season series this year with a sweep. In postseason play, the teams are very familiar with each other over the past seven seasons as its tied at 2-2. JSU defeated PVAMU in the second round in the 2009 SWAC Tournament while defeating PVAMU in the first round in 2011. PVAMU defeated JSU in the 2013 semifinal round and the 2015 opening round of the tournament.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS
Jayrn Johnson leads the Panthers in scoring with 12.5 points and is also the steals leader with 1.7 per game.  He also leads PVAMU iand ranks seventh in the SWAC in three-point percentage with a 37.3 average and is playing the best basketball of his career at this point as he is averaging 20.5 points over the past 11 games and shooting nearly 50 percent from the field. Junior Admassu Williams ranks second on the team in scoring with 10.4 points and leads the team with 6.1 rebounds per game. Williams ranks 23rd in the SWAC in scoring, tied for eighth in rebounding, ninth in field goal percentage (49.4%) and 15th in blocked shots with 0.6 per game. Junior guard Tevin Bellinger ranks third in scoring with 10.2 points per game and leads the team in free throw percentage with an 85.7 percent clip.