By Garrett Jones
Fewer teams in NCAA men’s college basketball history have had a stranger season than the 2018-19 Prairie View A&M Panthers have.
In December, its postseason hopes were dead in the water. The final game in an 11-game losing streak was a Dec. 29 loss to Winthrop that dropped its record to 1-11.
Flip the calendar, and a completely new team has emerged.
The Panthers have dominated Southwestern Conference play on the way to an outstanding 18-1 record in 2019. They are the class of the conference at this point, boasting a 19-12 overall record and 17-1 mark in SWAC play. Talk about a team to watch.
Off the heels of three consecutive tournament titles and NCAA tournament appearances, Texas Southern won’t roll over easy for Prairie View.
Led by embattled former Louisiana State head coach Johnny Jones, the Tigers aren’t far off of the Panthers’ pace with a 19-12 overall record, and 14-4 in-conference clip. They led the SWAC for most of the season until the Prairie View’s historic run.
Texas Southern wouldn’t at its place atop the standings without the play of senior forward Jeremy Combs, undoubtedly a player to watch in this tournament.