Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT — When the Lamar Cardinals step on the floor at McDermott Arena tonight to face Incarnate Word it will be their first game in a week.

The extra time to prepare for the Southland contest may have come at the perfect time for Lamar (10-8, 2-3 Southland), which has dropped three straight to start the New Year and enters the week in ninth place in the Southland standings just a half game back of the final playoff spot.

Tonight’s game will be a contest of two teams currently heading in the same direction. While Beaumont’s version of the Cardinals are trying to stop a three-game slide, the Southland’s other Cardinals are one of three league teams still looking for their first conference win (5-10, 0-5 Southland). UIW has dropped eight straight and is coming off an 83-63 setback at Stephen F. Austin over the weekend.

Big Red will be anxious to get back on the court for the opportunity to eliminate the bitter taste left over from its heartbreaking setback to Southeastern Louisiana last time out. After taking a 15-point lead into the locker room, the Cardinals were held to just five field goals in the second half, being outscored 36-16 during that stretch to drop a five-point decision to the Lions. While the Cardinals were struggling from the field in the second half, SLU caught fire connecting on better than 60 percent of its attempts from the field.

Big Red will also be looking to break junior Josh Nzeakor out of his second-half slump when it faces UIW. The Mesquite native has scored 21 points in the first half of the team’s previous two games, but has scored a total of two points in final 20 minutes of the last two games.

History is not on LU’s side in the series. Since UIW joined the Southland Conference, San Antonio’s Cardinals have won four of the six meetings (.667). The Red and White have never defeated UIW in San Antonio dropping all three previous meetings. Big Red is coming off a 15-point victory over UIW last season in Beaumont.

Despite the team’s recent struggles over the course of the past three games, Big Red enters the week as one of the Southland’s top defensive squads. The Cardinals are third in the league in scoring defense (68.2 ppg), second in field goal percent defense (42.6), second in three-point field-goal percent defense (32.3), third in steals (9.3 spg) and third in turnover margin (plus-3.6). LU is also second in the league in scoring margin (plus-7.6) in 2017-18.

Senior Colton Weisbrod leads a trio of players in double figures for the Cardinals. The Nederland native ranks among the Southland leaders in scoring (15.9 ppg) and rebounds (8.8 rpg). Weisbrod guides a Cardinals offense that is averaging nearly 76 points per contest.

UIW is averaging 74.0 points per game led by three players in double figures. Charles Peavy leads the team scoring 12.5 points per game. San Antonio’s version of the Cardinals is surrendering better than 78 points per game and being outrebounded by more than three per contest.

Tonight’s game will tip off at 7 at the McDermott Center in San Antonio. It can be heard live on Newstalk 560 KLVI.