After a big win in the season opener, WSU (1-1) is now back and is looking to overcome a team that shocked them last year. Prairie View A&M (1-1), a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, is 1-1 on the season with their last game being an 11 point loss to SeattleU in Seattle.
Last season, the Cougs traveled down to Prairie View and lost by 11. It was a stunning loss, with the Cougar offense looking awful and the Panthers shooting the lights out at home. The Cougs were without several key players, and the depth issues that plagued much of last season were at their worst during that road-trip.
This time around should be different. This WSU team seems to have better depth and definitely has a more replicable style of offense than last year’s team. The Cougs made it clear against Idaho that they are perfectly willing to camp in the paint and dunk over and over again.
That is why head coach Kyle Smith went and got guys like Isaac Jones, Oscar Cluff and Reuben Chinyelu. Size matters in these types of games, and the Cougs are big. PVAMU rosters no center, and the Cougs have eight players at least as tall as the Panthers tallest player.
On the other end, the Cougs should also be able to succeed as well. Obviously it is a small sample size but through two games the Panthers have 14 assists to 32 turnovers. That is, frankly, abysmal. Against Seattle they had four assists to 17 turnovers, and Seattle had two players with five blocks. The Cougs have active hands and big shot blockers, do not be surprised if they go on the huge runs off of defense.
This game is more than just a non-conference matchup for each side, as it is part of the Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series. The series is a program that was established in 2021 to set up basketball matchups between the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the Pac-12.
The SWAC is made up entirely of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and the Legacy Series looks to educate a wider audience on the importance of HBCUs and supporting their athletic programs.
This game is still a bit scary for the Cougars because this is also how this matchup looked last year. The Panthers won only two of the following 12 games after they beat WSU, and they finished as one of the worst teams in the SWAC. It was a truly unbelievable upset, but what is the saying? Lightning never strikes the same place twice?
The Cougs surely hope so.
The game will be at 7 p.m. on Friday in Beasley Coliseum. Fans can watch on the Pac-12 Network.
