Gators are 35.5-point favorites but Prairie View has their attention

Associate head coach Carlin Hartman works with bigs at Thursday practice (Photo by Franz Beard)

Prairie View A&M already had Todd Golden’s attention based on the Panthers’ takedown of Lehigh in a First Four Game Wednesday night, but just in case he needed an example of what happens when you take a No. 16 seed casually, Siena had a 13-point lead on Duke in the second half.

Ahead 47-34 with a little more than 17 minutes remaining in the game, Siena missed a pair of dunks on the same possession. The second dunk attempt caromed off the back rim and bounced all the way past the 3-point line at the top of the key. Duke’s Isaiah Evans sprinted out of a pack of players, ran the ball down and dunked at the other end.

That was Duke’s wakeup call. The Blue Devils ran off nine straight points, shifting momentum clearly in their favor. Although they never completely shook Siena, the Blue Devils got the lead and held on for a 71-65 first round win in the East Regional.

Bad things can happen if you are foolish enough to take an opponent lightly in March when a loss sends your team packing because the season’s over. Prairie View has Golden’s undivided attention. The Gators, the No. 1 seed in the South Region, may be a whopping 35.5-point favorite to put an end to Prairie View’s season tonight (9:25 p.m., TNT), but Golden knows the Gators have to play at a high level, eliminating the turnovers that were so instrumental in poor play at the SEC Tournament in Nashville last weekend.  

At Thursday’s press conference, Golden treated the Panthers (19-17) with utmost respect.

“They're always going to be gritty, they're going to be tough,” Golden said. “They have a unique style defensively where they get after you and try to turn you over, and they're old. They're mature, they're old, they play six seniors. A couple of those guys are grad school guys.

“We don't anticipate them being afraid of the moment or being scared coming into the game. We think they're going to be ready to compete, and looking forward to the opportunity for this game tomorrow night.”

Prairie View is in this game because it shocked Lehigh in the First Four game in Dayton Wednesday. Though undersized even against a not particularly tall team, Prairie View forced 16 turnovers to keep Lehigh from ever getting into a solid offensive rhythm. At 6-7, Corey Wells used his quickness to offset a 3-inch and perhaps 40-point disadvantage to Hank Alvey. Although he gave up points and rebounds to Alvey (23 and 15), Wells was a force in the paint with 19 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. Wells was solid enough in the paint that it opened things up for Dontae Horne to go off for 25 points.

Defensively, Prairie View ran a full court press and swarmed to the ball even when Lehigh got the ball safely across the midcourt line. The Panthers were credited with 12 steals out of their helter-skelter style.

“We have a great level of respect for them and for their ability to beat Lehigh in a quick turnaround coming down here, and we have to be ready to play and do a really good job tomorrow night," Golden said.

What caught his eye was Prairie View’s ability to turn Lehigh over. In their win over Kentucky last Friday, the Gators turned it over 18 times. Saturday in their loss to Vanderbilt, nine first half turnovers were converted into 20 points in what became a 17-point loss by the Gators.

That led to practices in Gainesville designed to address ball security among other problems that were exposed in Nashville.

"Well, we had a really good week of practice,” Golden said. “I think when you have a bad game like we did last Saturday, you've got to use it as a learning experience and try to find ways to improve, and I think we did that. I think we highlighted some areas that we haven't been very good over the last week and addressed that this week in practice and competed really well.

“My hope is that we'll be able to address those areas and play better this weekend."

THURSDAY’S NCAA RESULTS

East

1 Duke (33-2) 71, 16 Siena (23-12) 65

3 Michigan State (26-7) 92, 14 North Dakota State (27-8) 67

6 Louisville (24-10) 83, 11 South Florida (25-9) 79

9 TCU (23-11) 66, 8 Ohio State (21-13) 64

South

2 Houston (29-6) 78, 15 Idaho (21-15) 47

3 Illinois (25-8) 105, 14 Pennsylvania (18-12) 70

4 Nebraska (27-6) 76, 13 Troy (22-12) 47

5 Vanderbilt (27-8) 78, 12 McNeese (28-6) 68

11 VCU (28-7) 82, 6 North Carolina (24-9) 78, OT

10 Texas A&M (22-11) 63, 7 Saint Mary’s (27-6) 50

Midwest

1 Michigan (32-3) 101, 16 Howard (24-11) 80

9 Saint Louis (29-5) 102, 8 Georgia (22-11) 77

West

3 Gonzaga (31-2) 73, 14 Kennesaw State (21-13) 64

4 Arkansas (27-8) 97, 13 Hawaii (24-9) 78

12 High Point (31-4) 83, 5 Wisconsin (24-11) 82

11 Texas (20-14) 79, 6 BYU (23-12) 71

CONFERENCE RECORDS

SEC 4-1; Big Ten 3-2; A-10 2-0; Big XII 2-1; SWAC 1-0; Big South 1-0; MEAC 1-1; WCC 1-1; ACC 1-3; Patriot 0-1; Metro Atlantic 0-1; Summit 0-1; American 0-1; Big Sky 0-1; Ivy 0-1; Sun Belt 0-1; Southland 0-1; Southern 0-1; Big West 0-1

FRIDAY’S NCAA TOURNAMENT GAMES

South/Tampa (TNT)

6:50: 9 Iowa (21-12) vs. 8 Clemson (24-10)

9:25: 16 Prairie View A&M (19-17) vs. 1 FLORIDA (26-7)

Midwest/Saint Louis (CBS)

12:15: 10 Santa Clara (26-8) vs. 7 Kentucky (21-13)

2:50: 15 Tennessee State (23-9) vs. 2 Iowa State (27-7)

Midwest/Tampa (truTV)

12:40: 12 Akron (29-5) vs. 5 Texas Tech (22-10)

3:15: 13 Hofstra (24-10) vs. 4 Alabama (23-9)

Midwest/Philadelphia (TBS)

1:50: 14 Wright State (23-11) vs. 3 Virginia (29-5)

4:25: 11 Miami OH (32-1) vs. 6 Tennessee (22-11)

West/San Diego (TNT)

1:35: 16 Long Island University (24-10) vs. 1 Arizona (32-2)

4:10: 9 Utah State (28-6) vs. 8 Villanova (24-8)

West/Saint Louis (truTV)

7:35: 15 Queens (21-13) vs. 2 Purdue (27-8)

10:10: 10 Missouri (20-12) vs. 7 Miami (25-8)

East/San Diego (CBS)

7:10: 12 Northern Iowa (23-12) vs. 5 St. John’s (28-6)

9:45: 13 California Baptist (25-8) vs. 4 Kansas (23-10)

East/Philadelphia (TBS)

7:25 10 UCF (21-11) vs. 7 UCLA (23-11)

10:00: 15 Furman (22-12) vs. 2 UConn (29-5)

SATURDAY’S NCAA TOURNAMENT GAMES

East/Greenville (CBS)

5:15 1 Duke (33-2) vs. 9 TCU (23-11)

East/Buffalo (CBS)

2:45: 6 Louisville (24-10) vs. 3 Michigan State (26-7)

South/Oklahoma City (TNT)

6:10: 2 Houston vs. 10 Texas A&M (22-11)

8:45: 5 Vanderbilt (27-8) vs. 4 Nebraska (27-6)

South/Greenville (CBS)

7:50: 11 VCU (28-7) vs. 3 Illinois (25-8)

Midwest/Buffalo (CBS)

12:10: 9 Saint Louis (29-5) vs. 1 Michigan (32-3)

West/Portland (truTV/TBS)

7:10: 11 Texas (20-14) vs. 3 Gonzaga (31-3)

9:45: 12 High Point (31-4) vs. 4 Arkansas (27-8)