BEAUMONT, Texas – After cruising to a season-opening victory that saw Lamar University score 114 points, the Cardinals will now take a step up in competition as they head to Dallas, Texas to face SMU.  The Mustangs are 1-0 on the year but will face Western Illinois before hosting Lamar.
 
By the time the Mustangs step on the floor against LU it will be their third game in four days and their second game in consecutive nights.
 
The Cardinals are looking to see similar improvement in year three from year two as they did last season from the first year under head coach Alvin Brooks. The Cardinals made a seven-game improvement from the 2021-22 year with the heart of the roster returning from last year.
 
SMU is a similar situation as the Cardinals as they are looking to build from a 10-win season a year ago, where they also won five games in conference play. SMU really struggled down the final stretch of the 2022-23 season dropping four straight and six of their final seven to end the year.
 
Thursday's meeting will serve as just the seventh all-time meeting between the two schools with SMU taking all six of the previous matchups. The schools squared off last season in Dallas with the Mustangs taking 75-50 victory. Among the six previous contests, all but one have been played in Moody Coliseum.
 
Thursday's game is set to tip off at 7 p.m. from Moody Coliseum and it will be streamed live on Newstalk 560 KLVI.