BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University returns to action after the Christmas break Saturday with a home contest against Paul Quinn College. The first meeting between the two schools on the hardwood will serve as the Cardinals (5-7) final game of 2023, and the final tune-up before the start of Southland Conference play.
 
Big Red heads into the contest looking to put an end to a two-game slide that has also seen the Cardinals drop four of its last five – a stretch that has included games against UTSA, Sam Houston, UL Monroe, Southern Mississippi and LSU.
 
Big Red is 3-1 (.750) at home this season and brings the Southland's top scoring offense (81.8 ppg) and the league's second-best three-point shooting (.378) team into the game. In an attempt to inject a spark into the lineup head coach Alvin Brooks switched up the Cardinals' starting lineup for the first time this season at LSU. Brooks moved B.B. Knight into the starting lineup.
 
Utilized as a reserve through the first 11 games, Knight leads the team in scoring (11.6 ppg) and was one of only two players in the SLC to lead their team in scoring while coming off the bench – but he is the only player to start only one game.
 
Knight is one of four Cardinals to average in double figures this season, and the Cardinals own the league's top offense despite not having a player among the Southland's top 10 in scoring.
 
Saturday's contest is slated to tip off at 5 p.m. from the Neches Federal Credit Union Arena at the Montagne Center. It is a scheduled doubleheader with the LU women and will be broadcast on Newstalk 560 KLVI and streamed live on ESPN+.