Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT — Fresh off a 23-point drubbing of UT Rio Grande Valley, the Lamar men’s basketball team (3-3) returns to action this evening to close out a three-game home stand. The Cardinals will host Idaho State at 8 p.m. in the Montagne Center looking to close out the current home stand with a 2-1 (.667) record.

The game will be webcast on Big Red Sports Network (lamarcardinals.com/watch) and air on KLVI-AM 560.

Members of the Big Sky Conference, Idaho State is making its first trip to Beaumont in the midst of a five-game road swing. It is a stretch that has ISU playing eight of nine games away from Pocatello, Idaho. The Bengals (2-3) head to the Golden Triangle looking to put an end to a three-game slide. After starting the season with back-to-back wins, Idaho State has dropped consecutive road contests to Washington State, Denver and Utah.

Despite their woes in the past three games, the Bengals bring a high-scoring offense into Beaumont, which is putting up numbers similar to LU’s Southland Conference-leading scoring offense. ISU is averaging 79 points per game, compared to the Cardinals, who lead the SLC, at 81. The main difference is LU  outscoring its opponents by nearly 10 points per game, while the Bengals are being outscored by five points per game on the season.

The Bengals also bring in one of the best three-point shooting teams LU will see all season. The Bengals are shooting 42 percent from the field and 41 percent from three-point range. ISU brings five players into the game who are shooting at least 35 percent, or better from beyond arc.

Ali Faruq-Bey has knocked down a team-high 18 threes (.439) on the season, while sophomore Geno Luzcando is shooting 60 percent (9 of 15) from beyond the arc.  ISU is led by three players in double figures, including Faruq-Bey, who is averaging nearly 18 points off the bench.

It is a similar situation for the Cardinals who are being led by freshman Nick Garth. The Houston native has come off the bench in all six games for head coach Tic Price, and leads the team averaging 14 points per contest. Garth is coming off a career-high 21-point performance in the victory over UT Rio Grande Valley.

The Cardinals have also seen improved play from freshman post player Dorian Chatman in the previous 60 minutes of basketball. The Port Arthur native scored 11 points in the second half against California-Riverside, and continued that strong play in the win over UT Rio Grande Valley. Chatman netted a career-high 14 points on 4 of 8 (.500) shooting against the Vaqueros.