BEAUMONT, Texas – With nine games remaining in the 2015-16 regular season, the Lamar University Cardinals men's basketball team will open an important three-game homestand beginning Monday evening against the Sam Houston State Bearkats. The three-game set at home couldn't have come at a better time for the Cardinals (10-11/2-7 Southland) who are looking to right the ship after having dropped four straight and seven of their last eight contests. Despite their recent struggles, the Cards bring a 7-4 (.636) home record into game. The Cardinals enter the showdown currently tied for 10^th in the league standings.
 
LU will be facing a Sam Houston State squad that has seen its own share of struggles recently. The Bearkats (11-11/6-3 SLC) have dropped three of five, and are coming off a heartbreaking one-point loss at Houston Baptist Saturday. Their recent stumbles have forced SHSU out of the upper half of the league standings and currently stand fifth overall.
 
Monday night's game will be a contest of two evenly matched offenses as the Bearkats rank just a notch ahead of LU in scoring offense. SHSU is averaging 77.1 points per game this season, while the Cards are averaging 77.0. The one thing the Cards are looking to do to help the offense is take better care of the basketball.
 
In Saturday's loss at Abilene Christian, Big Red turned the ball over 12 times in the opening half which the Wildcats converted into 21 points. The Cardinals have also been stung by slow starts throughout the 2015-16 season, which happened again at ACU. The Cards fell behind by double digits in the opening half but rallied before halftime to within six, and had the ball with an opportunity to cut the deficit down to four late in the half.
 
The Bearkat offense is led by two players in double figures, Aurimas Majauskas and Dakarai Henderson. Majauskas averages more than 14 points per game, while Henderson enters the game at 13.5 points per game. The Cardinals are led by freshman Nick Garth who is averaging just under 15 points per game. The Cardinals have also seen a resurgence from classmate Dorian Chatman over the course of the past two games. He has hit double digits in each of the team's past two games, and is coming off a career-high 24 at ACU Saturday.
 
The game against the Bearkats will tip off at 7 p.m. from the Montagne Center. It will be televised on ESPN3, and can be heard on Newstalk 560 KLVI.
    
LU vs. The Bearkats
The Cardinals enter Monday's game against Sam Houston State trailing in the all-time series. LU is currently three-games under .500 (29-32/.475) against the Bearkats, but the Cardinals have had the upperhand in Beaumont. Big Red is 19-12 (.613) all-time against SHSU at home.
 
Price vs. the Bearkats
Monday's game against Sam Houston State will mark the 13th time in Tic Price's career that he has coached against the Bearkats. Price's teams are 5-7 (.417) in those games.
 
Home Sweet Home
The Cardinals have made the Montagne Center one of the toughest venues for opponents to play over the course of its 30-plus year history. The Cardinals have posted a 303-148 (.672) record in the Montagne Center. LU recorded a program-best 15 home victories during the 1987-88 season. LU was 12-2 (.857) at home last year, and is 7-4 (.636) this season.
 
Cardinals on ESPN3
Lamar University announced an agreement with ESPN3 last month to have all of their home games televised by the nationwide leader in sports. ESPN3 is the network's online platform.  The Cards are 1-3 (.250) at home since announcing the agreement with ESPN3.
 
Home/Away Comparisons
The Cardinals are (7-4/.636) in the Montagne Center this season. The Bearkats have struggled away from the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum in 2015-16. In their 11 road games the 'Kats have logged a 3-8 (.273) record.
 
Three-Game Homestands
Monday's game against Sam Houston State tips off a season-long three-game homestand. It will be LU's third three-game homestand of the season. The Cardinals are a near perfect 5-1 (.833) in games played during those homestands, and have one five consecutive heading into Monday's contest against the Bearkats. LU's lone loss during that stretch was a five-point setback to UC-Riverside
 
On this Date in History
The Cardinals are a game over .500 (8-7) all-time on the first day of February.
 
Lamar in February
The LU Cardinals are 265-257 (.508) all-time in the month of February. Big Red has produced above .500 records in the month 27 times in program history, which includes four perfect months (1960-61, 1963-64, 1983-84 and 2007-08). The Cardinals recorded a school record 10 wins in the month of February twice (1960-61 and 1983-84). The February record jumps to 173-93 in home games. LU is 91-180 (.336) during February road games.
 
The World according to Garth
Freshman guard Nick Garth has made the transition from high school basketball to NCAA Division I hoops look fairly easy. The Houston, Texas native scored in double figures in all but three of the team's games this season, which includes the two games he started. Garth came off the bench to score 19 points, including a 9-for-9 effort from the free throw line. He is the Southland's second-leading freshman scorer averaging 14.5 points per game (Jaylen Franklin - 15.4 ppg).
 
Career High
Port Arthur freshman Dorian Chatman had scored just 23 points in his previous seven games, but appears to have broken out of his slump over the course of LU's past two games. Chatman followed up his 10-point outing at Stephen F. Austin by netting 24 points on 8-of-11 (.727) shooting at Abilene Christian. The 24-point outing set a new career high for Chatman, whose previous career high was 23 set against Howard Payne.
 
Providing Another Scoring Option
Junior Marcus Owens is becoming another scoring option for head coach Tic Price. After hitting double digits only once in the team's last eight games, Owens has struck for at least 16 points in two of the team's last three games, which includes a 16-point effort on 7-of-11 (.636) shooting, including 2-of-4 (.500) from three-point range at Abilene Christian.
 
Second Half Strength
The Cardinals first-half struggles have been well documented this season but it is a completely different story in the second half. The Cardinals have outscored their opponents in the second half 13 times this season. In the eight games where LU didn't outscore its opponent in the final 20 minutes, the point differential in the second half was less than 10 points in every game but one.
 
50-50
After a slow start offensively at Abilene Christian, the Cardinals picked up the pace in the second half. LU connected on 13-of-23 attempts (.565) from the field, to shoot 50 percent for the game. It marked the 10th time this season the Cardinals have shot at least 50 percent from the field in a half.
 
The Price is Right
LU head coach Tic Price is approaching a career milestone in wins. Price has won 193 games during his career, only seven shy of 200.
 
A Historical Look at Lamar University
LU has been one of the Southland's more dominant teams throughout league history. The Cards have won nearly 54 percent of their SLC games. Lamar also has the most NCAA tournament appearances of any current Southland school (6), and their five NIT berths are also tops in the league. The Cards have had 76 All-Southland Conference players, including 29 first-team selections. Six players have been named league newcomer of the year, four have earned MVP honors and there has been one freshman of the year selection. Five former Cardinals have also been named SLC tournament MVP.
 
Up Next...
The game against Sam Houston State opens the third of three three-game homestands for the Red and White. LU will continue that homestand Saturday, Feb. 6 when it hosts Incarnate Word. The game against the Cardinals will tip off at 4:30 p.m. from the Montagne Center. Big Red will conclude the homestand two days later against Abilene Christian. The game against the Wildcats will tip off at 7 p.m. from the Montagne Center. Both contests will be televised on ESPN3.
 
-LU CARDINALS-