THIBODAUX, La. – With finals and the fall semester coming to a close last week, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team will tackle the final four non-conference games of the year head-on in the next two weeks, beginning with the three-game, three-day World Vision Challenge sponsored by Gossner Foods hosted by Utah State on Thursday.
 
The Colonels will kick off the event in the marquee slot on Thursday night, taking on the host Aggies at 9:05 p.m. central time, squaring off with the Southern Illinois Salukis on Friday and UC Davis Aggies Saturday at 6:30 p.m. both days. This will be the second all-time meeting against UC Davis, while it will be the first on the hardwood against Utah State and Southern Illinois.
 
The Colonels are hoping to snap a three-game losing skid that continued last week in the season finale against UNO, as Nicholls fell to the Privateers 79-76 at the Lakefront Arena. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak over UNO dating back a few years, as the Privateers shot 55 percent on the night to escape after Nicholls made a game of it late.
 
The game saw the return of redshirt senior guard Fred Hunter, who had missed two games due to a hamstring strain against Michigan State and Tulane. Hunter returned to the starting lineup and promptly led all scorers with a career-high 36 points on 13-of-17 from the floor and 10-of-14 from the free throw line. The made baskets were also a new personal best for Hunter who also grabbed a game best nine boards in the process.
 
With the Colonels needing a spark in the second half, Hunter scored 20 of the 36 points in the final period, and got help from freshman T.J. Carpenter who finished second on the team with 14 points on 5-of-6 from the floor.  The guard from Lakeside High School was a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the 3-point line, accounting for all the made three's Nicholls made on the night, as his back-to-back makes helped begin a 20-9 run that allowed Nicholls to get back into the game. Both Carpenter and Hunter accounted for nearly half of the team's scoring on the night.
 
Unfortunately, Nicholls was dealt a big blow before leaving for Utah, as sophomore forward Sam McBeath was lost for the season due to a broken foot that required surgery. McBeath started all six games for the Colonels, just getting over flu-like symptoms for a couple of games to average seven points and 3.7 rebounds per outing.
 
The Colonels are hoping to be back at full strength this week after getting back Lachlan Prest who was out with a concussion and Pedro Maciel with a leg strain, as well as Dantrell Thomas.
 
Against Utah State, Nicholls will face a 6-1 team that is third in rebounding margin and 13^th in field goal percentage in the nation just seven games into its season. Jared Shaw leads the team with 14.3 points per game, and is in the top 25 nationally in rebounding and field goal percentage.
 
The Salukis are 6-2 on the year after earning the season sweep of UNO on Monday night, defeating the Privateers 74-61 in Carbondale. SIU has four players scoring in the mid to low double-digits, while UC Davis has three players scoring in double figures, as The Aggies' Corey Hawkins has the highest scoring average among the three opponents with a 17.8 points per game average, with just a 2-6 record to their credit.
 
The pregame show on the Colonel Sports Radio Network will begin 15 minutes prior to the start of each game.
 
 
TV: None
Radio: 100.3 FM KLRZ (Larose, La); 1600 KLEB (Golden Meadow, La.)
Broadcast Team: Mike Wagenheim (play-by-play)
Colonels on the Internet: www.klrzfm.com
Live Stats: www.utahstateaggies.com