BEAUMONT, Texas – Two games in 25 hours – that is the plan for the Lamar University Cardinals men's basketball team in Virginia. A tall task for any team, much less a team as young as the 2015-16 version of the Cardinals. A task made even more daunting considering the opponents – Liberty and Virginia Tech – but that is what head coach Tic Price, and his coaching staff are asking of their young team this weekend. The Cardinals will face the Liberty Flames Saturday in Lynchburg, with a showdown at Virginia Tech the following day.
 
The game against the Flames (3-6) is slated to tip off at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. Beaumont time) Saturday from the Vines Center, while Big Red will square off against the Hokies at 3 p.m. (2 p.m. Beaumont time) from the Cassell Coliseum. Both games will be televised on ESPN3 – the network's online platform.
 
The Cardinals enter the week riding a two-game streak, looking for their second non-conference road win of the season. To pick up that second road win, Big Red will have to do it against a team that is 3-2 (.600) at home this season, but more importantly facing a team that is trying to put an end to a five-game skid.
 
The main question to be answered entering Saturday's game is which team's strength is stronger? The Flames hang their hat on defense. Surrendering fewer than 64 points per game, Liberty has held opponents to 62 or fewer points four times this season. The Flames are shooting 45 percent from the field led by Evan Maxwell's 14 per game and Lovell Cabbil's 11.3 per contest.
 
Liberty's defense versus Big Red's offense should present an interesting matchup. The Cardinals lead the Southland Conference averaging better than 81 points per contest, and are being led by Nick Garth's 14.6 points off the bench. In addition to Garth's nearly 15 points per game, sophomore Kevin Booze and junior Lincoln Davis are giving the Cardinals approximately 12 points each, and senior LeMon Gregory is coming off the best performance of his collegiate career, 21 points and 11 rebounds – both career highs.
 
Twenty-five hours later the Cardinals will step on the court to take on Coach Price's alma mater, Virginia Tech. The Hokies (6-3) responded to two overtime games (one loss and a win) by blasting Arkansas-Pine Bluff and knocking off Radford on the road.
 
The Hokies have four players averaging in double-digits, led by Zach LeDay and Chris Clarke – both of whom are averaging just shy of a double-double per game. As a team, Virginia Tech's offense lights up the scoreboard for similar production to LU. The Hokies average just under 80 points per game, while outscoring their opponents by 10. Virginia Tech has also found an advantage on the glass outrebounding opponents by nearly 12 boards per game. The Cardinals are outrebounding their opponents by nearly six boards per game and have only been outrebounded once this season (Idaho State).
 
Both games will hold a small portion of historical significance at the tip off. It will be the first meeting between LU and both Liberty and Virginia Tech in school history.
 
The game against the Hokies holds significance for Price as well. Price was a small forward for Virginia Tech on some of the school's best teams. Price played for Virginia Tech from 1976 – 79, and helped guide the Hokies to the second round of the 1979 NCAA Championships where they were defeated by the Larry Bird and Indiana State.
 
-LU CARDINALS-