ATLANTA — Following an opening round bye, the top-seeded Wildcats will begin Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament play against Prairie View A&M at Gateway Center Arena. The quarterfinals matchup will tipoff Wedenesday at 2 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+. The victor will advance to the semifinals to play the winner of #5 Alabama A&M vs #4 Texas Southern on Friday.


Wednesday, March 11
Opponent: #8 Prairie View A&M
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Atlanta, Ga. | Gateway Center Arena
Watch: https://www.espn.com/watch/
Listen: youtube.com/cateyenetwork
Live Stats: https://bcuathletics.com/sidearmstats/Mbball/summary
Tickets: https://www.ticketmaster.com/search?q=2026+Pepsi+SWAC+Basketball+Tournament+presented+by+Buick

1^st Half
Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M were locked into a tightly contested first half, with neither team able to gain much separation. The largest lead for either team was just four points.

The Wildcats shot 46.2% overall while holding the Rattlers to 38.2%. But FAMU was the better team on the glass, out-rebounding B-CU 23-15.

Bethune-Cookman did not make a three-pointer and missed four free-throws in the frame. Ariel Bland led the way with 10 points, while also grabbing seven rebounds.

2^nd Half
The second half picked up right where the first half left off as both teams traded the lead back-and-forth.

B-CU was able to take its largest lead of the game with 7:29 remaining after a dunk by Ariel Bland. But the Rattlers quickly fought back to tie the game at 65.

With 2:51 to go, Daniel Rouzan converted an and-one opportunity to give the Wildcats a five point lead, but once again FAMU responded. They went on an 8-0 scoring run to retake the lead.

After a missed free-throw by the Rattlers, B-CU had a chance to tie or take the lead with just 11 seconds left. Jordan Johnson fired off a three-pointer on the other end, but it didn't fall and Florida A&M held on to win.

The Wildcats shot better than the Rattlers in the second but struggled to take care of the basketball. They finished the half with eight compared to just four for FAMU.

The eighth-seeded Prairie View A&M Panthers finished 14-17 overall with a 9-9 record in SWAC play. They are currently on a four-game winning streak including the recent second-round victory over Alcorn State.

The Panthers are led by their high-scoring duo of Tai'Reon Joseph and Dontae Horne, who are both averaging close to 20 points per game. Joseph struggled against Alcorn, scoring just two points on 1-for-6 shooting from the floor. Horne led PVAMU with 24 points but shot just 39.1% himself.

Prairie View ranked as the top shot blocking team in the conference this season, recording 5.2 blocks per game. But overall, the Panthers finished with the third-worst defense in points allowed per game.

The Panthers also struggled to rebound during the regular season, finishing in the bottom three in rebound margin.



Bethune-Cookman has yet to face the Panthers in a SWAC tournament game. In the regular season, the Wildcats are 5-2 against Prairie View, having won the previous five straight meetings.


Follow Bethune-Cookman Basketball on Twitter and Instagram (@BCUHoops) for all of the latest news and updates. For all Bethune-Cookman Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BCUathletics), Instagram (@BCUathletics) and www.bcuathletics.com.