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Prairie View A&M (8-11, 6-0 SWAC) at Arkansas-Pine Bluff (7-12, 4-2 SWAC) – 8:30 PM EST (No TV)
Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Pine Bluff, Arkansas where the hometown Golden Lions will host the Panthers of Prairie View for Monday Night SWACtion. Pine Bluff is solidly in third place in league play – they are a full two games behind Prairie View for 1st and a game behind Alabama State for second place. They are a perfect 5-0 in home game so far this season with one non-D1 win in December and four wins in league play, including a hard-fought 90-86 win against Texas Southern on Saturday night. Martaveous McKnight leads Pine Bluff with a whopping 24.1 points per game and 5.0 rebounds per game.
While there is a team from Texas that is atop the SWAC at the moment, it is not Texas Southern but rather their neighbors from Prairie View. After a decisive 17-point win at Santa Clara to open the season, the Panthers have won their first six league contests and are coming off of an 11-point win at Mississippi Valley State over the weekend. Gary Blackston (15.5 PPG, 7.8 RPG) had 14 points and 11 rebounds in the Panthers’ win.
OTHER GAMES OF NOTE
-DUKE AT NOTRE DAME (ACC). Duke is cruising and will likely end up as a #1 seed if they keep playing like they have been. This is a very winnable road game.
-TCU AT TEXAS TECH (Big 12). This is an interesting match-up. Texas Tech has been winning, and you can’t just ignore that, but they’ve had to sweat out some wins that you wouldn’t expect a protected seed to have to sweat out. TCU has been winning as well, but for the most part they’ve been beating up on a pastry cart and don’t have any really big wins just yet. That will change if they’re able to pull it out tonight.
-BAYLOR AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12). Based on how well Baylor has been playing, I’d say that both of these teams are probable NCAA Tournament teams, and it’s possible that Baylor could end up in the top half of the bracket despite their sluggish start. It’s an opportunity at a quality win for both these teams, and it’s one that both of them could use.