SAN MARCOS, Texas - The Nicholls State University men's basketball team (11-8, 5-3 Southland Conference) goes in search of its third straight win and fifth victory in their last six games when the Colonels conclude a two-game Southland Conference road trip at Texas State (9-12, 4-3 Southland Conference) with a 4:00 p.m. tipoff in San Marcos, Texas.

Nicholls enters the matchup with the Bobcats after a dominating win in the opener of their two-game Texas road trip.  The Colonels picked up their first ever victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday, a win that came on the heels of a four-game homestand that saw Nicholls pick up three home-court victories.

However, the Bobcats have some momentum of their own, having won two of their last three games and six straight on their Strahan Coliseum home court.  Among the victims of the Bobcats' home-court streak are preseason Southland West Division favorites Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State as well as league rivals Northwestern State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The Bobcats boast the second highest scoring team in the Southland, averaging 79.0 points/game.  Texas State is led by Cameron Johnson's 13.4 point/game average.  Johnson is joined by Tony Bishop's 10.1 point/game average, giving Texas State two double digit scorers.  The Bobcats also boast a deep bench with seven players averaging 8.0 points or more.

Meanwhile, Nicholls brings one of the best defenses in the nation into the nation.  The Colonels began the week allowing an average of just 60.7 points/game, the 24th best mark in the nation.  Nicholls also boasts an 8.6 steal/game average that ranks 30th nationally and a +5.6 turnover margin that ranks fourth in the country. 

The Colonels will hope to repeat the success they found on Jan. 29 against Lamar.  The Cardinals, the top-scoring team in the conference, entered the game averaging 87.0 points/game, but Nicholls limited Lamar to 71 points en route to a 77-71 win.

On the offensive end, Nicholls is led by junior forward Anatoly Bose, whose 22.4 point/game average entering the week was the top average in the Southland Conference and the eighth best in the nation.  He is joined by junior guard/forward Fred Hunter whose .561 field goal percentage at the start of the week ranked 32nd in the nation.  The Denton, Texas native is coming off a career night in his last outing in which he scored 26 points and grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.

Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m. at Strahan Coliseum.  The game can be heard in the New Orleans-Houma-Thibodaux area on the Colonel Sports Radio Network, including flagship station KLRZ 100.3 FM and KLEB 1600 AM.

Following their matchup with the Bobcats, the Colonels will return home to host Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday Feb. 9.