Lamar sports information

SAN FRANCISCO — The Lamar men’s basketball team returns to action tonight looking to rebound from a disappointing outing at Idaho State Tuesday night. The Cardinals (4-2) return to the state where they suffered their only other loss of the season (Nov. 19 at Fresno State). Big Red’s next opponent has only lost once this season.

Tonight’s game will tip off at 9 at USF’s War Memorial Gym. It can be heard live on KLVI-AM 560.

San Francisco enters the contest riding the wave of a 5-1 start opening with four consecutive wins before dropping a close six-point setback at Eastern Washington prior to Thanksgiving. The Dons are coming off a 13-point victory over Alcorn State last Wednesday.

While the Cardinals are in the midst of a tough four-game stretch that has them making stops in Prairie View, Pocatello, Idaho, San Francisco and Chicago, USF will step on the court for the fifth game in the last 10 days.

San Francisco is 3-0 at home this season, picking up wins against Illinois-Chicago, Troy and Alcorn. The Dons bring one of the nation’s more explosive offenses led by one of the country’s leading scorers in senior Ronnie Boyce. The Oklahoma City native is averaging nearly 22 points per game for a team that is scoring better than 80 points per contest.

USF has four players averaging in double figures on a team that is shooting lights out from the floor. The Dons have knocked down 173 of 338 (.512) attempts, which includes nearly 43 percent from beyond the arc. San Francisco is also averaging nearly 37 rebounds per contest.

The Cardinals are averaging nearly 75 points per game, but holding opponents to 68 per contest through their first six games. Junior college transfer Colton Weisbrod has become a force with in the Southland to start the 2016-17 season. The Nederland native is averaging a double-double per contest with 15.5 points per game and leads the league averaging nearly 11 rebounds per contest.

Weisbrod is joined by sophomore Nick Garth, who comes off the bench averaging 13 points per contest. The Houston native ranks among the Southland leaders in three-pointers made (3.0 per game) and three-point field-goal percentage (.409).

Weisbrod has recorded consecutive games where he posted a career-high. He had a career-high 25 points in the win at Prairie View A&M and followed that up with a career-high 17 rebounds at ISU.

The Cardinals had struggled on the glass and from the free throw line to start the young season, but those were bright spots in an otherwise disappointing performance at Idaho State. Big Red knocked down 71 percent of its free throws and outrebounded ISU by 19.