MURRAY, Ky. – After having the past week away from competition, the Prairie View A&M men's basketball returns to action Saturday in a 7 p.m. game at Murray State.
The Panthers' Countdown To Tipoff begins at 6:45 p.m. online at pvpanthers.com/live. A live video stream is available at ESPN+, with links to listen, watch, and get live stats available at pvpanthers.com.
Prairie View A&M (1-6) opened the season with seven games in 15 days. After a opening-night win at Santa Clara (81-64) on Nov. 9, PVAMU lost in-state games at Baylor (91-80), UTRGV (70-57), and Lamar (74-67). During Thanksgiving week, the Panthers lost at UNC Greensboro (74-66), East Carolina (76-64), and Georgia Tech (65-54).
The Panthers have been highly competitive in every game, and in each of the last four contests trailed by nine points or less entering the last five minutes but have been unable to pull out the victory.
PVAMU has three players averaging in double figures.
Gary Blackston, the SWAC's leading scorer from last season, is second in the league in scoring (17.0), 7th in rebounding (6.3), 6
th in field goal percentage (42.6), 11
th in free throw percentage (72.0), 15
th in made 3s/game (1.3), tied for 3
rd in steals (1.9), and fifth in minutes (32.6).
Devonte Patterson is 12
th in the league in scoring (13.4), t-9
th in rebounds (6.0), 8
th in free throw percentage (76.2), 5
th in steals (1.8), and 18
th in minutes (28.6).
Gerard Andrus (10.3 ppg) is t-12
th in rebounds (5.6), t-16
th in blocks (0.6), t-8
th in steals (1.3), and 7
th in minutes (31.6).
Murray State (3-1), the defending Ohio Valley Conference champion, is coming off its first loss of the season, a 78-72 loss at Alabama. The Racers opened the season with wins over Wright St. (73-54), Spalding (106-36), and Missouri St. (77-66). MSU is 3
rd in scoring (82.0), 1
st in field goal percentage (53.0), 4
th in 3 pt field goal percentage (37.2), and 1
st in free throw percentage (75.9), and led the OVC in scoring defense (58.5 ppg), opponent field goal percentage (38.1), and opponent field goal percentage (17.6).
Ja Morant (27.8 ppg) is one of the most exciting players in the country, and is 38-point night Monday at Alabama moved him into the Top 10 in several NBA Mock Drafts for 2019.
