The Prairie View A&M men's basketball team will continue its three-game homestand hosting Jackson State Saturday at 5 p.m. in the William J. Nicks Building.
It's the Gold Game for Saturday's doubleheader that begins with the 3 p.m. women's game between the two schools. The PVAMU women (5-8 overall, 2-1) are one of five teams tied with one loss at the top of the SWAC standings, while Jackson State is 6-9, 1-3. The women's game can be viewed at pvpanthers.com/women.
The men's game between the Panthers (5-11, 3-0) and Tigers (5-11, 2-1) can be viewed online as well at pvpanthers.com/men.
Saturday's men's game will be highlighted by the presentation of championship rings at halftime to the 2018 PVAMU softball team, which won six consecutive elimination games, including three on the final day of the tournament, to win the SWAC title for the first time since 1998.
Both the women's and men's teams will also be in action Monday in the Blackout Game in a 4 p.m. doubleheader hosting Grambling in the William J. Nicks Building.
PVAMU is off to a 3-0 start in men's SWAC league play for the first time since 2010 and has won four games in a row. The overall winning streak is the longest since winning five in a row late last season. (Alabama St. 80-74 2/24/18, Alabama A&M 71-58 2/26/18, at Alcorn 79-69 3/1/18, at Southern 77-69 3/3/18 and vs. Alcorn 87-71 3/6/18).
The Panthers only trailed once early (8-7) against Texas Southern last Saturday in a 79-73 win.
Gary Blackston had his second double-double in the last three games (14 points, career-high 13 rebounds) as the Panthers had four players in double figures.
Gerard Andrus had a season-high 24 points with seven rebounds.
Dennis Jones had a season-high tying 10 points and seven assists, and
Darius Williams came off the bench to score 13 points with four rebounds, and three assists.
"Our preparation was the key for us," said PVAMU head coach
Byron Smith. "It was an easy game / hard game to get ready for. An easy game because of so much anticipation and excitement because of the rivalry. It was a hard game because of the talent they have, and the experience they have. I was pleased we got off to a fast start. They are a really good team. We went up a big, but a team like TSU is going to come back. They picked up their play, but we didn't splinter. We stayed tough and stay true to who we were, and kept defending. It was a total team effort."
The Panthers will face a different style of play this week in Jackson State, which has won conference games against Alabama A&M (54-51), Alcorn St. (59-52) and Southern (64-58), with the lone league loss at Alabama St. (57-59). Chris Howell leads JSU in scoring (12.3 ppg/12th SWAC) and rebounding (8.9 (1st/SWAC). The Tigers lead the SWAC in scoring defense (67.4 ppg), 3-pt field goal defense (31.2%) are second in FG% defense (41.0%) and rebounds (37.8/gm), and blocked shots (3.6/gm).
"They are always prepared," said Smith of JSU. "Wayne Brent (sixth year head coach) is one of the better coaches in this league and has been for a long time, and they are always tough defensively. It won't be a pretty game. They don't score the ball a lot (60.2 ppg/9
th SWAC), and we're one of the better scoring teams in the league right now (69.9 ppg/3
rd SWAC), so it will be a challenge. We're going to have to defend them and grind it out. They are an old-school traditional basketball team. They are going to defend the entire 30 seconds of the shot clock, and be very physical with you. They are going to really go after the glass (tied for second in rebounds at 37.8 per game). Every night is a tough night in the league and that's no different facing one of the tougher teams in our league in Jackson and we have to be ready to play."
The Panthers and Tigers split the season series last year, with each team winning at home, including an overtime win by Prairie View A&M in overtime on ESPNU.
