BEAUMONT, Texas – After dropping three straight early in the Southland Conference schedule to fall out of the top eight, Lamar University has gone about the task of climbing back up the conference ladder. Big Red (15-10/7-5 SLC) enters its weekend showdown with Sam Houston State in a two-way tie for sixth in the league standings.
 
Winners of two straight, and five of their last seven, the Cardinals are coming off a four-point victory over Northwestern State where they overcame a slow start to shoot better than 53 percent in the second half. The Cardinals enter the weekend matchup 1.5 games back of Stephen F. Austin and two games back of Sam Houston State (both teams LU defeated in the first meeting this season), but tied with Central Arkansas who recorded an overtime win over Big Red in Beaumont earlier this year.
 
The Bearkats enter the rematch within striking distance of a Southland regular-season title. SHSU (15-10/9-3) is in a three-way tie for second just a half game back of league-leading Nicholls and a half game up on SFA.
 
Sam Houston has won three straight, and nine of the past 11 contests, with one of the two setbacks being an overtime loss to LU last month in Beaumont. While the Bearkats would like nothing more than to get revenge for their loss earlier season loss to the Cards, they are coming off a similar outing as Big Red.
 
Just like the Cardinals survived a scare on the road from Northwestern State Wednesday, Sam Houston escaped Wednesday with a two-point home win over a suddenly hot Texas A&M-Corpus Christi squad. The Bearkats' current three-game win streak is the longest in the Southland, while the Red and White are looking for their third consecutive victory since prior to Christmas.
 
After scoring just seven points in the team's two previous games, senior Colton Weisbrod returned to his usual self Wednesday with a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds. Despite Weisbrod's return to normal, LU was forced to find offense from different players as junior Josh Nzeakor was saddled with early foul trouble and finished the night with two points, and classmate Nick Garth was limited to four points on 1-of-3 shooting. The added offense came from senior James Harrison (18 points on 7-of-12 shooting) and 10 points from junior Torey Noel. The Midwest City, Okla., native was 3-of-4 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line against the Demons.
 
In the initial meeting between the two schools, Sam Houston State had four players in double figures and led by as many as 18 points late in the first half before the Cardinals began to chip away at the lead. Big Red managed to overcome a slow start, and a Sam Houston squad that shot better than 70 percent in the second half to force overtime where LU picked up the victory – LU's second consecutive overtime win over Sam Houston.
 
One thing that hasn't changed since the first meeting is Sam Houston remains the league's top defensive team. The Bearkats are holding opponents to a conference-low 66.7 points per game, and lead the league in field goal percent defense and three-point field-goal percent defense. The 'Kats also lead the league in rebound margin.
 
The Cardinals are one of only three teams in the Southland to hold opponents to less than 70 points per game (69.4 ppg).   
 
Chris Galbreath leads the Bearkats' offense averaging nearly 15 points per game, while John Dewey III is scoring just over 11 per game.
 
Weisbrod continues to lead a Cardinals' offense that is scoring close to 77 points per game. He is averaging 16.4 points, and is one of the league's leading rebounders with 8.2 per game. Nzeakor and Garth are both averaging just over 12 points for the Red and White.
 
The Cardinals trail the all-time series against Sam Houston, 31-34 (.477), but have won consecutive games in the series. The last two LU wins put a stop to a nine-game slide in the series. The Cardinals head to Huntsville looking for their first road victory in the series since February 2012.
 
Saturday's game will tip off at 6:15 p.m. from the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum. It can be heard live on Newstalk 560 KLVI, and seen on ESPN3.
 
-LU CARDINALS-