Let the Madness Begin.
The women's and men's basketball programs of Prairie View A&M University will begin the quest for the NCAA Tournament in opening round games Tuesday in the Toyota Southwestern Athletic Conference.
In a new format, the top four seeds host first round games on their respective campuses. The #7 seeded Lady Panthers (13-17, 8-10) will play at #2 Texas Southern (20-9, 14-4) at 5:30 p.m. The women's game will be
broadcast online at pvpanthers.com with the pregame show starting at 5 p.m.
On the men's side, the #4 seeded Panthers (13-19, 10-8) will host #5 Grambling State at 8 p.m. in the William J. Nicks Building. KPVU 91.3 FM will have a
live radio broadcast of the game with the pregame show starting at 7:45 p.m., and pvpanthers.com will have a
live video stream. Game tickets are $15 and are available online at
pvpanthers.com/swachoops. A limited number of floor seats remain for $25 and can be purchased online at
pvpanthers.com/swachoopsfloor.
Both Panther teams are arguably playing their best basketball of the season. First-year head coaches
Ravon Justice (women's basketball) and
Byron Smith (men's basketball) have each led their teams to victories in five of the last six games to end the season.
The Lady Panthers closed the regular season with home wins over #4 Southern (70-63) and #5 Alcorn St. (69-60). Second-team All-SWAC selection
Alexus Parker averaged 20.5 points per game over the last six games, and scored 20 points four times, including a season-high 25 points at Alabama St. on Feb. 27. Parker is third in the league in scoring, averaging 16.1 points per game.
This is the third meeting of the season between the Lady Panthers and Texas Southern, who tied for the regular season title for the third straight season. Prairie View A&M dropped both matchups, but look to crash the SWAC Tournament party by winning Tuesday as the #7 seed and advance to Friday's 6 p.m. semifinal vs. the winner of #3 Alabama State-#6 Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
In men's action, the Panthers have won three straight games to close out the regular season, posting a win at #8 Alabama St. (77-58), and home wins over #3 Southern (70-64) and #2 Alcorn St.
Tevin Bellinger, the SWAC Player of the Week and second-team All-SWAC selection, is fourth in the league in scoring in conference games averaging 17.9 points per game. Bellinger scored in double figures in all 18 SWAC games.
The Panthers and Tigers split their two meetings earlier this season, with each team winning at home. PVAMU won 94-82 on Jan. 16, while Grambling won 61-58 on Feb. 13. The winner advances to Friday's 2:30 p.m. semifinal against the winner of #1 Texas Southern-#8 Alabama St. at Toyota Center.
