BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University will play 11 non-conference games during the 2024-25 basketball season – highlighted by three NCAA tournament teams and four contests in Beaumont. In a unique twist to the 2023-24 slate, the Cardinals will also play two Southland Conference games in the midst of their non-conference schedule (Dec. 5 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Dec. 7 at UT Rio Grande Valley).
 
"The idea was to put together a schedule that was competitive that would prepare us to compete for a Southland Conference title," said LU head coach Alvin Brooks. "We wanted a schedule where we faced some similar opponents to us, which we were able to do, but we also wanted to play a schedule against teams were NCAA tournament teams last year.
 
"We're going to face Sam Houston at home who won the Conference USA regular-season title last year. In addition to that, we have Texas A&M early in the season and they are returning most of their starters from an NCAA tournament team. We're also going to be competing in the Akron Basketball Classic and they were a tournament participant last year. We also have road trips to UL Lafayette, Southern Miss and Texas Tech. We have several 2024 NCAA tournament teams, so this is a much tougher schedule," added Brooks.
 
Big Red will tip off the season Tuesday, Nov. 5 against Paul Quinn College. Following the contest against PQC, the Cardinals will travel to College Station, Texas to take on Texas A&M (Nov. 11) before returning to Beaumont for a date with an old conference rival – Sam Houston (Nov. 17).
 
The Cardinals will then hit the road for three consecutive games in Ohio as they compete in the Akron Basketball Classic Nov. 22-24. Lamar will square off against Akron, Alabama State and Omaha. The Red and White will return home from that trip six days later to take on Our Lady of the Lake (Nov. 30) before opening conference play at A&M-Corpus Christi and UTRGV.
 
The Cardinals will then finish off the month of December with their last four non-conference games, which will wrap up a season long five-game road swing. Big Red will be in Lafayette, La., Dec. 14^th to take on the Ragin' Cajuns before traveling to Southern Miss on Dec. 17^th. Lamar's final game before taking a few days off for the Christmas holiday's will be Dec. 21^st at Texas Tech.
 
Lamar will close out the non-conference portion of its schedule Monday, Dec. 30^th against Texas A&M-San Antonio. Fans can get an early sneak peek at the Cardinals Tuesday, Oct. 29^th when they host LSU-Alexandria in and exhibition contest.
 
All LU home games will be played at the Neches Federal Credit Union Arena at the Montagne Center and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and Newstalk 560 KLVI.