TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Dontae Horne, Cory Wells and the rest of the Prairie View A&M basketball program didn’t get much time to celebrate the school’s first NCAA Tournament victory.
Fresh off a 67-55 win over Lehigh on Wednesday night in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, the Panthers (19-17) were getting ready quickly for a monumental task.
They’re the 16th seed in the South Region and will face top seed and defending champion Florida on Friday night in the first round.
“It still feels surreal,” Wells said Thursday. “Can’t really put into words but we have another game (Friday), so it’s time to lock back in and look forward.”
Horne, who led the way with 25 points against Lehigh, said his phone has been blowing up since the win. This is the third NCAA Tournament appearance for Prairie View A&M, a historically Black school located outside Houston, following losses in 1998 and 2019. The Panthers were 5-27 last season.
“It’s been crazy. Haven’t had much sleep,” Horne said. “But we have to hurry up and lock in.”
It’ll take one of the greatest upsets in tournament history to advance. The Gators (26-7) are 35 1/2-point favorites, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
“We’re gonna throw the kitchen sink at them. All we know how to do is play hard, see where the cards fall,” guard Lance Williams said.
Prairie View A&M coach Byron Smith understands the challenge facing his team. He called the Gators a team that appears “on pace to make a run at cutting the nets down.”
“You love watching them, obviously, when you don’t have to play them,” Smith said. “A well-coached team. They’ve got size. They have athleticism. They have playmakers. They run good offense. They’re tough defensively. They’re big. They’ve got everything. … They pose problems for any team they play.”
Florida enters the matchup coming off a 17-point loss to Vanderbilt in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals. The Gators had won 12 straight before that loss.
Last year’s team was led by a backcourt of Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and Will Richard. They’re in the NBA now and this version of the Gators relied mainly on the frontcourt to get earn a top seed.
Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu were the returning starters.
Thomas Haugh stepped up to lead the team with 17.1 points per game. Chinyelu averaged 11.2 points and 11.5 rebounds, and Condon is scoring 18.5 points over the last 10 games.
“You can’t take anybody for granted,” Haugh said. “Everybody in this tournament is a good team. They made it here. They deserve to be here.”
Condon talked about the team staying hungry for another title.
“You lose one game and you’re out,” Condon said. “We’ve been doing a lot of winning. We can’t get complacent. It’s a different year.”
In the other South Region matchup at Benchmark International Arena, No. 8 seed Clemson (24-10) takes on ninth-seeded Iowa (21-12).
Dynamic guard Bennett Stirtz leads the Hawkeyes after helping Drake beat Missouri in the first round of last year’s tourney. Stirtz averages 20 points and is shooting 49.2% from the field and 37.2% from 3-point range.
“They have one of the most electric guards in the country in Stirtz,” said R.J. Godfrey, who is averaging 11.9 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Tigers. “He can really score. They’re very disciplined on both ends. They guard well and they get to the paint well.”
Clemson reached the Elite Eight two years ago and was bounced in the first round last year by McNeese. Iowa is back in the tourney for the first time since consecutive first-round exits in 2022 and 2023.
“They’re super well-coached and play the right way,” Stirtz said of Clemson. “We’re gonna have our hands full. They’re guards can get downhill pretty much at will. We’re going to need to stop that. … They’re balanced and have strengths in different aspects.”
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