SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word and Southland Conference rival Sam Houston State will meet on Thursday night at 8:05 p.m. in men's basketball action at the McDermott Center.  The game will be broadcast on CSN Houston and online at www.csnhouston.com/page/live.

The Cardinals (14-3, 2-2) and Bearkats (13-5, 5-1) are two of the highest scoring teams in the conference.  The Cardinals have split their first four conference games of the season while the Bearkats have won their last four SLC games.

The two losses for the Cardinals have come by a combined six points.  Denzel Livingston (Houston/Waltrip HS) and Kyle Hittle (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) are the top players on the team.  Livingston is averaging 18.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while Hittle averages 17.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.  Center Ian Markolf (San Antonio/Churchill HS) leads the conference with 8.7 rebounds per contest.

The Bearkats have a balanced scoring attack with eight players averaging at least 6.0 points per game.  Jabari Peters leads the team with 13.6 points per game while Kaheem Ransom adds 12.3 points per game.  Michael Holyfield grabs 5.8 rebounds and has blocked 27 shots on the season.

Prior to the men's game, the two women's teams will play at 5:30 p.m.  The Cardinals are coming off an exciting 67-64 win over Oral Roberts last Saturday.  They are 8-8 overall with a 2-2 mark in the conference.  Rose Whitehead (Grapevine/Grapevine HS) leads the way with 14.4 points per game and picks up 5.3 rebounds per game.  Ifunanya Mora (Grand Prairie/Arlington Bowie HS) is averaging 10.5 points per game and leads the team in rebounds, assists and steals.

The Bearkats (8-9, 3-3) have won their last three games in the conference.  Angela Beadle has been the team's top player with 15.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.  Jasmine Johnson chips in with 12.8 points per game and nearly 4.0 assists per game.
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