SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – Despite playing without starting point guard Mitchell Badillo (Houston/Cy Falls HS) and losing a second point guard, Jontrell Walker (Aurora, IL/Aurora West HS) to an injury in the first four minutes of the game, the University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team picked up a needed 73-64 win over Southland Conference rival Nicholls on Tuesday night at the McDermott Center.

Denzel Livingston (Houston/Waltrip HS) and Kyle Hittle (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) picked up the scoring slack for the Cardinals (14-6, 6-4) and the defense harassed the Colonels (7-14, 4-7) into 17 turnovers and just 18.8 percent shooting from three-point range.  UIW led for all but 1:41 of the game and were always able to keep the visitors at arm's length.

The game started slowly with both team's struggling to find any offensive rhythm.  The Cardinals led 17-12 with less than six minutes remaining in the first half before the team's started to get going a bit.  UIW led by as many as nine points in the half and settled for a 29-23 lead.  The two teams each shot under 33 percent in the half.

The game picked up in the second half as the shooting percentage rose.  The Colonels tied the score twice during the first four minutes of the second half, but the Cardinals went on top for good after a three-pointer by Hittle with 15:13 left.  The Cardinals gradually pushed the lead to double digits and led by as many as 15 points before the Colonels pulled it back to single digits by the end of the game.

The Cardinals shot 38.8 percent from the field, made 5-of-12 from three-point range and were 30-of-39 at the charity stripe.  Livingston led the team with 32 points, seven steals, six rebounds and four assists without committing a turnover.  He was 7-of-14 from the field and 15-of-17 from the foul line.  It was the fourth time this year he has scored at least 30 points in a game.  In addition, he passed Sean Sullivan to move into fourth on the UIW all-time scoring list.

Hittle pumped in 18 points, grabbed five rebounds and had three assists.  Freshman Shawn Johnson (Gretna, LA/Alief Hastings HS) played 36 minutes scoring 13 points and grabbing five rebounds.  The team had 15 steals and committed only seven turnovers.

The Colonels shot 43.1 percent from the field, made 3-of-16 from three-point range and were 17-of-21 at the foul line.  T.J. Carpenter led the team with 20 points and seven rebounds.  Sam McBeath and Ja'Dante' Frye each added 13 points.  Nicholls grabbed seven more rebounds than UIW and outscored them, 34-26 in the paint.

The Cardinals are back in action on Friday at 7 p.m. at Central Arkansas.
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