The Lamar Cardinals will travel to the Teague Center to take on the Abilene Christian Wildcats this Thursday night in College Basketball action.
The Lamar Cardinals lost their 18th straight game and dropped to 2-23 on the season after being defeated by the Stephen Austin Lumberjacks, 70-56, this past Saturday. Lamar trailed by just a 45-44 margin midway through the 2nd half, however, the Cardinals defense struggled down the stretch and could not fight back after the Lumberjacks took a 60-50 lead with 3:28 left in regulation. Lamar shot 51.1% from the field & 26.7% from beyond the arc while allowing Stephen Austin to shoot 45.9% from the field & 14.3% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Cardinals was C.J. Roberts who had 18 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists, & 1 steal.
On the season, Lamar is averaging 62.3 ppg on 40.1% shooting from the field. The Cardinals are averaging 5.5 three-pointers per game on 30.1% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Lamar has been led by C.J. Roberts (14.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.1 spg), Jordyn Adams (12.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.4 apg), Kasen Harrison (10.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.1 spg), Lincoln Smith (7.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.0 apg), & Brock McClure (6.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.0 spg). Jordyn Adams has missed the past two weeks due to injury while Kasen Harrison is no longer with the team as he recently entered the transfer portal.
Defensively, Lamar is allowing their opponents to average 73.5 ppg on 45.3% shooting from the field. The Cardinals have a rebound margin of -1.7 and a turnover margin of -1.8.
The Abilene Christian Wildcats had their 6-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 17-8 on the season after being defeated by the Sam Houston Bearkats, 75-71 (OT), this past Thursday. Abilene Christian allowed Sam Houston to force OT after the Bearkats Savion Flagg hit a game-tying three-pointer with just :02 seconds left in regulation and could not fight back after a Savion Flagg jumper gave Sam Houston a 73-71 lead with :23 seconds left in OT. Abilene Christian shot 36.1% from the field & 16.0% from beyond the arc while allowing Sam Houston to shoot 45.0% from the field & 27.8% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Wildcats was Coryon Mason who had 13 points, 4 rebounds, & 2 assists.
On the season, Abilene Christian is averaging 77.7 ppg on 44.3% shooting from the field. The Wildcats are averaging 6.8 three-pointers per game on 31.0% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Abilene Christian has been led by Coryon Mason (12.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.7 apg), Airion Simmons (11.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.7 spg), Mahki Morris (10.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.4 spg), & Cameron Steele (8.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.2 apg).
Defensively, Abilene Christian is allowing their opponents to average 67.1 ppg on 43.6% shooting from the field. The Wildcats have a rebound margin of -1.5 and a turnover margin of 8.4.
The Cardinals are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Thursday games & 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The Wildcats are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games overall & 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Thursday games.
Lamar comes into this game as one of the worst teams in College Basketball as the Cardinals are 0-16 on the road this season and currently rank just 338th in scoring offense & 285th in scoring defense. Abilene Christian has been solid on both ends of the court this season, ranking 37th in scoring offense & 121st in scoring defense, and come into this game with an 11-3 record at home. Lamar was able to give Abilene Christian all they could handle in late January, however, as the Cardinals are dealing with injuries and the recent transfer of Kasen Harrison, I think they struggle against the Wildcats in this one and that Abilene Christian do enough to cover this double-digit home spread. Good Luck!