PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas ^__ The Alabama A&M men's basketball program will look to defeat top seeded Prairie View on the road for a bid to advance to the SWAC Tournament Semifinal in Birmingham this weekend.

The eighth-seeded Bulldogs (8-21, 5-13 SWAC) have made the tournament for the first time since the 2015-16 season as they face the top-seeded Panthers (18-13, 14-4 SWAC) in the opening round.

Alabama A&M fell to Texas Southern in the SWAC Semifinal game, 77-69, in their last appearance in the SWAC Tournament at the neutral site Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on March 9, 2016. The last time these two programs battled in the SWAC Tournament was following the 2013-14 season with Alabama A&M falling, again at a neutral site in Houston, 55-49.

A&M's trio of freshman guards, Cameron Alford, Cameron Tucker and Garrett Hicks, have continued to lead the team in key categories on the season and have each built a case for SWAC Freshman of the Year consideration.

Alford, an Indiana native, leads the team in points, rebounds and steals, putting up averages of 12.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game on the year. Alford also ranks top-15 in the conference in all three categories.

Hicks, a Madison, Alabama native, leads the squad in outside shooting, making a team-high 47 three-point field goals on .320 percent shooting from deep, along with playing near 30 minutes per contest, good for top-10 in the conference in both statistics.

Tucker, another in-state product, controls the tempo at the lead guard position and currently sits fourth in assists per game with 3.5, and fifth in total assists at 102 on the year. Tucker is one of the better ball handlers in the SWAC, averaging 1.3 assists per turnover for the season.

Alabama A&M will look to avenge its two regular season losses to the Panthers earlier in the season.

The Panthers of Prairie View hold a top-20 ranking in the nation in free throws made (510), free throws attempted (723) and steals per game (8.5). PVAMU also currently sits number eight in the country in forced turnovers at 17.5 per game. In addition, the Panthers rank near the tops in the SWAC in scoring offense, scoring margin and turnover margin, while leading the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Forward Devonte Patterson leads the team in points and rebounds with 15.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest, while guards Gerard Andrus and Darius Williams round out the double figure scoring trio with 14.9 and 11.0 points per game respectively.

Up Next
The Bulldogs are looking to advance to take on the winner of #4 Jackson State and #5 Alcorn State on Friday, March 13 in Bartow Arena in Birmingham at 2:30 p.m.

For more information on the A&M men's basketball team, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter (@Bulldogs_Hoops) and Instagram (@Bulldogs_Hoops). For more on all Bulldogs sports teams, follow the official social media accounts of AAMU Athletics on Twitter (@AAMUBulldogs), Facebook (Facebook.com/aamubulldogs) and Instagram (@AAMUathletics).