March Madness is back, and the spotlight tonight falls squarely on Dayton, Ohio, where the No. 16 Lehigh Mountain Hawks and No. 16 Prairie View A&M Panthers will clash in the NCAA Tournament’s First Four at UD Arena. Both teams, riding impressive winning streaks and championship momentum, are set to tip off at 6:40 p.m. ET, with truTV carrying the national broadcast. Jordan Kent will handle play-by-play, Jim Spanarkel will provide analysis, and Jenny Dell will report from the sidelines, ensuring fans won’t miss a beat of this high-stakes showdown. For those preferring radio, Westwood One will deliver live coverage with Danny Reed and King McClure on the call.
Lehigh enters the tournament as the 2026 Patriot League Men’s Basketball Champion, boasting an 18-16 record (11-7 in league play). The Mountain Hawks have found their stride at the perfect time, stringing together six consecutive wins and capturing eight of their last ten games. Their most recent triumph, a 74-60 victory over No. 4 Boston University, clinched the Patriot League title and punched their ticket to the Big Dance.
Junior guard Nasir Whitlock has been the heart and soul of Lehigh’s postseason surge. Named Tournament MVP, Whitlock averaged a stellar 23.0 points per game across three tournament victories. His season-long brilliance is hard to ignore—he’s tied for the NCAA Division I lead with eight 30-point performances and ranks 18th nationally in scoring at 21.0 points per game, also dishing out 3.4 assists per contest. Whitlock’s scoring prowess is matched by his leadership, something both he and his teammates have acknowledged as a key difference from last year’s squad.
Reflecting on the team’s growth, Whitlock shared, "I think last year we were a little bit younger. Hank was starting as a freshman. We had a sophomore. We had a lot of young people. I think Ed was also starting as a freshman most of the season. I think coming into this summer, I told the team we've got to learn how to win. We won a lot of close games this year. A lot of those games we were losing last year, just coming down to the final two, three minutes, the last minute of the game. I think we figured out how to win a little bit more which helped us win those close games because in our league every game is going to be close no matter if you're home or away, so yeah."
Sophomore forward/center Hank Alvey, who averages 15.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, and junior guard Joshua Ingram (10.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists) have started all 34 games alongside Whitlock. Alvey credits the team’s experience as crucial: "We were definitely younger last year. You could say we're still young right now. But being here now in my second year, just that experience of that first year has helped a lot. I feel like Nas has really stepped up as a leader this year. Not saying we didn't have leaders last year. We had great leaders last year, but Nas has taken on that leadership role and leading us to where we are now. I want to shout out him for making a big impact on the team this year."
Lehigh’s depth has been bolstered by sophomore forward Edouard Benoit, who, despite missing all but three non-league games, has averaged 10.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in 23 league contests. The Mountain Hawks’ core trio—Whitlock, Alvey, and Ingram—were all named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team, underscoring the collective effort fueling their run.
On the opposite sideline, Prairie View A&M arrives with a nearly identical record (18-17, 9-9 SWAC) and a wave of momentum, having rattled off seven straight wins under the steady hand of 11th-year head coach Byron Smith. The Panthers are fresh off a 74-55 win over No. 3 Southern in the SWAC Tournament, where senior guard Dontae Harris claimed MVP honors with 15 points, five assists, and four steals. Graduate guard Lance Williams chipped in a team-high 18 points and five assists, earning All-Tournament recognition.
The Panthers’ journey to Dayton was anything but easy. They toppled top-seeded Bethune-Cookman 71-67 in the SWAC quarterfinals, thanks to a 30-point explosion from Horne, and dispatched No. 5 Alabama A&M 74-55 in the semifinals with 25 more points from Horne. Horne has been a revelation this season, averaging 20.2 points per game. He’s joined by a balanced supporting cast: Wells (13.1 points, 7.1 rebounds), Williams (10.1 points, 3.3 assists), and graduate guard Tai’Reon Joseph (18.2 points per game). Prairie View A&M’s up-tempo attack leads the SWAC and ranks 19th nationally in fastbreak points, averaging 15.4 per contest—a stat that could prove pivotal against Lehigh’s disciplined defense.
As the teams prepare for their do-or-die clash, both squads are embracing the moment. For Lehigh, this marks a return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012, when the 15th-seeded Mountain Hawks stunned the college basketball world by upsetting No. 2 Duke, 75-70, behind 30 points from C.J. McCollum. Head coach Brett Reed, now in his 19th season, has guided Lehigh to three of its six NCAA Tournament appearances, including that historic victory. The Mountain Hawks also appeared in the tournament in 2010, 2004, 1988, and 1985, but have never advanced past the second round.
Coach Reed sees the First Four as a unique opportunity. "Well, I think it's a great opportunity to potentially go against another championship-level team and continue to see what you're made of. This is a great experience and a great chance for our guys, not only to showcase their talent on a national stage, but you've got an opportunity to go head-to-head almost as if it's a Patriot League championship-type game with another team that's playing some great basketball. I've been in this environment, and fortunately for me, we've had experiences where we've orchestrated some magical upsets. But a lot of times, you're a major underdog. This is going to be a dogfight. When you have a chance to test yourself against some of the best, now it breaks through all those jitters. It breaks through everything. Hopefully, we can be fortunate enough to advance, but we know that we're going to have to play an excellent game, and when you have that type of battle-tested experience that we have, you embrace that competition."
The Patriot League, now in its fourth decade, continues to prove that academic excellence and athletic achievement can go hand in hand. Lehigh is the 11th Patriot League team since 1991 to earn a No. 16 seed. The league’s last First Four win came in 2016, when Holy Cross edged Southern, 59-55. Past upsets—like Bucknell’s 2005 win over Kansas and Lehigh’s 2012 shocker against Duke—remind fans that anything is possible in March.
Tonight’s matchup is set to be a battle of tempo, toughness, and nerves. Will Lehigh’s recent run of close-game victories and Whitlock’s scoring magic hold up against Prairie View A&M’s fast-paced, balanced attack? Or will the Panthers’ SWAC-tested grit and transition game be too much for the Mountain Hawks to handle?
With both teams hungry for their first NCAA Tournament win in years, and the nation watching, the stage is set for a classic March Madness opener. As the clock ticks toward tip-off, one thing is certain: the journey to the Round of 64 starts here, and neither Lehigh nor Prairie View A&M is backing down from the challenge. Stay tuned—this one promises to deliver the drama and excitement that makes March Madness so unforgettable.