Closing the gap
Prairie View is making strides against rival TSU.
In a Southwestern Athletic Conference game in early January, Texas Southern led Prairie View A&M by 29 points with seven minutes to play. But the Panthers managed to cut that lead to five before eventually losing to the host Tigers.
A month later, the Houstonarea rivals met again, this time at Prairie View. The Panthers established a 19-point halftime lead and beat the Tigers by 14.
“Three of the guys we started in that game don’t start for us,” Texas Southern coach Mike Davis said. “It was a different lineup.”
The third-seeded Tigers (1319, 12-6 SWAC) have dominated the league the last five seasons under Davis. But Byron Smith, the Panthers’ second-year coach, has begun to flip the Panthers’ fortunes.
After being elevated to interim head coach in January 2016, Smith earned his career first win over then-defending SWAC champion Texas Southern — where he served as an assistant coach during the 2009-10 season.
“His experience as a player, making adjustments; he just puts the time in,” Davis said of Smith. “His preparation is very good.”
Despite Prairie View A&M (16-17, 12-6) being 3-9 against the Tigers since Davis arrived in 2012-13, Smith has improved their win totals from seven to 13 to 16. The Panthers are 2-3 vs. TSU under Smith.
This year, the Panthers placed three players on the All-SWAC teams (forward Zachary Hamilton, center J.D. Wallace and guard Gary Blackston), while TSU was shut out even though the Tigers have two of the SWAC’s top-five leading scorers.
“They have a few players who are all-conference, so they’re very good. It’s going to be a challenging game for us,” Davis said. “They’ve gotten better every year and they have a lot of seniors on their team, so it’s definitely their year to be successful.”
Friday’s game offers the Panthers another opportunity to make a statement in their rivalry and chip into the Tigers’ recent dominance.
Blackston has averaged 26.5 points in the two games against TSU. The Tigers will counter with point guard Demontrae Jefferson, who is averaging 28.2 points in his last five games.
Davis likes how his backcourt matches up against the Panthers and considers it their strength with Jefferson back (he was suspended during their loss in February).
“When we’re scoring and get rolling, we can score 90 points,” Davis said. “Trae (Jefferson) is a key to our team pushing the ball up floor.”
Jefferson’s teammates feel their team is playing at a six or seven out of 10, partially because injuries and suspensions have disrupted their ability to develop chemistry on the floor throughout the season. To win Friday, they’ll need to elevate that effort.
“You can’t play that way,” Davis said. “We can play at a nine and that’s how you want to be playing in March.”