SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team (5-9, 0-1) seeks its first Southland Conference victory on Saturday night when Nicholls (8-6, 1-0) visits the McDermott Center for a 7 p.m. tipoff. UIW fell to a hot-shooting McNeese squad, 88-77, at home on Wednesday night while Nicholls defeated Northwestern State, 78-72.

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MURRAY'S BREAKOUT GAME
UIW freshman Dwight Murray Jr. had a break-out game on Wednesday, leading the Cardinals with 18 points. Murray made six of 12 attempts from the floor, including two three-pointers. UIW made 52.7 percent of its field goals, its second-best shooting performance of the year.
 
BROWN HAS TWO CONSECUTIVE STELLAR OUTINGS
UIW's only senior, Charles Brown III, achieved two career bests in the Cardinals' Dec. 19 game against DePaul that closed out the non-conference schedule. He led the team in scoring with 27 points and shot five-for-seven from behind the three-point arc. Then, when the conference season began Wednesday, Charles hit six of nine shots from the field, including two threes, to finish with 14 points against McNeese. For these two games, he made 17 of 25 shots from the floor, boosting his team-leading season field goal percentage to 58.6. From the free throw line, he has made 22 of 27 attempts this season.
 
CARDINALS MAINTAIN LEAD AT THE LINE
Shooting nine-for-12 from the free charity stripe Wednesday night, the Cardinals maintained their national leadership in free throw shooting percentage. According to the latest NCAA statistics released Wednesday, UIW leads all Division I basketball teams with a 79.9 percent accuracy mark. UIW led the nation for three weeks earlier in the season, fell into second place after its mid-December trip to Chicago, and then resumed the lead this week when several competitors could not keep pace.
 
Individually, sophomore Christian Peevy is the nation's 20th-ranked free throw shooter, having made 59 out of 66 shots for a percentage of 90.9. Four other Cardinals, Jorden Kite (100), Antoine Smith Jr. (88.2), Augustine Ene (85.0) and Charles Brown III (81.5) are hitting more than four of five three throws, but do not qualify for an individual ranking because they do not meet the required number of makes (2.5 times the number of games played). However, their totals combine to enhance the team's ranking.
 
INJURY BUG KEEPS BITING
Beginning its season with 10 games in 19 days, the Cardinals were challenged by a series of injuries that allowed the team to dress out only 10 of its 15 roster players. Approaching the end of the non-conference schedule that concluded with the Dec. 19 game against DePaul, UIW was able to put only eight healthy players on the floor. Fortunately, the Christmas season bestowed the gift of healing on the UIW hoops family, with several players receiving medical clearance to return to action just in time for conference competition. However, another player joined the injury list because of a mishap in practice during the holiday break. The Cardinals were able to suit out nine players Wednesday night.