Prairie View A&M’s magical run season ended Friday night not with a roar, but with the quiet ache of a team that gave everything against an opponent poised to win another national championship.
“We got down a little bit early and were playing catch‑up from behind most of the night,” said Prairie View coach Byron Smith on the 114-55 loss to Florida on Friday night. “It’s a tough way to go. But I’m proud of my guys. We fought. We competed. Really, really proud of the season that we had, but we just came up short tonight against a bigger, faster, quicker team.”
The Panthers knew the challenge before tip‑off. Florida’s size and experience, anchored by a core of former national title players, created constant matchup problems in the paint and on the perimeter. The Gators shot 64 percent from the field, including 45 percent from the 3-point line.
After tying the Gators at 15-all early in the first half, Florida overwhelmed them, building a lead as large as 63 points in the second half.
Prairie View is grateful for historic season
“This was a tough loss, a tough way to end our season,” said Panthers guard Dontae Horne. “When you reflect on everything we went through this season — all the adversity — we still managed to accomplish a lot of great goals, like a SWAC championship. I’m still grateful for it all.”
Lance Williams added that the Panthers made history with an incredible run, including a SWAC title and a return to the NCAA Tournament after a down stretch.
“We still had a great season,” he said. “We made history. We’re on an amazing run, and we can’t overlook that. We fell short today, but we’re still proud of what we accomplished. We’re glad we were able to make it here. It’s a great story to tell our younger ones when we get older.”
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For Smith, the end of the floor did not change his view of the group. In his 11th year at Prairie View, he called this squad the best team in the program’s history.
“It’s painful,” Smith admitted. “You don’t want it to end, especially in a tournament with an unbelievable run we had. We were a hot team coming in, but we knew Florida was going to pose problems with their size and experience. We got off to a good start offensively, but the ball stuck, we got away from our offense, and started playing a little too much one‑on‑one. They capitalized on that.”
Future is bright at Prairie View
Despite the loss, there was no bewilderment in Smith’s voice — only gratitude and belief in what’s ahead. Prairie View’s success, he said, will require continued investment and support, especially as NIL and resource gaps grow. But he also sounded confident that the Panthers’ machine is just beginning to build.
“The sun’s going to come up tomorrow,” Smith said. “The future is bright. We hope to attract quality student‑athletes who resemble the ones we have now, and keep Prairie View on the map in HBCU basketball.”
