Tai'Reon Joseph Scores 31 To Lead Prairie View Over Texas Southern

HOUSTON - Guard Tai'Reon Joseph scored 31 points as Prairie View A&M pulled away from Texas Southern in the middle of the second half to claim an 85–77 victory Saturday night at William J. Nicks Building.

Texas Southern led 41–40 at halftime, but the Panthers tightened their defense after the break and outscored the Tigers 45–36 to take control in Game 1 of their crosstown rivalry.

The Tigers (6-13, 4-5 SWAC) were unable to match Prairie View’s intensity, scoring, and pace in the second half as the Panthers consistently attacked the paint and drew fouls, keeping Texas Southern on its heels.

TSU guard Jaylen Wysinger scored on a fastbreak layup to give the Tigers a 57-55 lead at the 10:59 mark in the contest.

However, Prairie View responded with a 6-point run to claim the lead for good over Texas Southern. At one point in the half, the Panthers expanded their advantage to 13 points, giving the home crowd plenty to cheer for in the White Night Out and Basketball Alumni Night game.

The Panthers clamped down, stealing the ball from the Tigers on multiple possessions and turning defensive rebounds into transition points, preventing the Tigers from mounting a late rally.

Guard Zytarious Mortle, who is a spark plug for the TSU offense, scored only 2 points, while the usually reliable Texas Southern bench only produced 24 points.

The Tigers loss although outrebounding the Panthers 40 to 28, and outscoring the home team 38 to 32 in the paint. Prairie View buried 9 of 27 three-point field goals and hit 20 of 25 (80%) from the free throw line.

Prairie View (8-13, 4-5 SWAC) snapped a four-game losing streak with the win and improved to 6-2 at home this season. Texas Southern falls to 4-5, tying the Panthers' SWAC record after the defeat.

Both teams now move into a pivotal February stretch of the conference schedule as they jockey for seeding in the SWAC tournament and prepare for the second installment of the H-Town Crosstown Rivalry later this season.

*Footnote: The 2025 SWAC Football Champions from Prairie View A&M were honored at the men's game.

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M TEAM HIGHS

Tai'reon Joseph: 31 points and 4 rebounds

Dontae Horne: 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists

Joey Madimba: 15 points

TEXAS SOUTHERN TEAM HIGHS

Troy Hupstead: 19 points and 11 rebounds

Zaire Hayes: 18 points and 4 rebounds

Jaylen Wysinger: 17 points and 5 rebounds

UP NEXT

The Prairie View A&M Panthers will travel to Daytona, Florida, to play the league-leading Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (7-1 SWAC) in Moore Gymnasium at 4:30 PM on Saturday, Feb. 7.

Texas Southern also heads east to Tallahassee, Florida, to meet Coach Charlie Ward and the Florida A&M Rattlers for a scheduled 5:00 p.m. CT tipoff on Saturday, Feb. 7.

Published 4 hours ago

KYLE MOSLEY

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