SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Following its second league loss, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team will look to bounce back Monday night as the Colonels take on the UIW Cardinals. Tipoff in the McDermott Center is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Nicholls (8-10, 3-2 SLC) is coming off a 69-59 setback against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, while UIW (5-12, 0-4 SLC) suffered a home loss against first-place McNeese. 

Much like in the series against A&M-Corpus Christi, Nicholls historically has not had a lot of success in road games in the series against UIW. The Colonels fell in San Antonio last season, 69-67, but avenged the loss three weeks later with a 84-74 win. The win for UIW improved its home record to 4-2 against the Colonels, with the losses coming in 2022 and '17. Nicholls swept the series in '22 en route to its second of two consecutive league titles, and the victory is '17 was highlighted by a Liam Thomas triple-double where he finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 10 blocks. 

Saturday at Corpus Christi, Nicholls had its own solid defensive showing by holding the Islanders to fewer than 70 points for just the fifth time this season; however, turnovers hampered the offense. The Colonels had their second most turnovers of the season with 18 and struggled to get into rhythm with the exception of an impressive start to the second half. The Colonels pieced together a 10-0 run after halftime to take their first lead of the day. 

Jamal West Jr. continued to perform at a high level as he tallied his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. After two off-nights from the field for Diante Smith, he returned to form against AMCC as he poured in 20 points on 7 of 13 shooting and 3 of 4 from behind the arc. Smith also registered five steals and now ranks 9th in the NCAA with 2.5 per game.

UIW enters the matchup in search of its first league win. The Cardinals also fell by 10 to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as all four of their league losses have been by double figures. UIW did secure nonconference victories against Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Jacksonville State, and UIC. 

UIW has three players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Sky Wicks at 14.4 points per game. Josiah Hammons is second at 13.7 and a large chunk of his scoring has been behind the three-point line as he has made 47 at a .367 clip. 

Despite the losing record on the road, Nicholls leads the all-time series with a 9-6 record. The Colonels have won nine of the last 11 after an 0-4 start.