THIBODAUX, La. _ Two Southland Conference basketball teams coming off deflating losses on Wednesday will meet on Saturday at Stopher Gym.

The University of Central Arkansas Bears take on the Nicholls Colonels at approximately 3 p.m. following the women's matchup at 1 p.m.

The Bears (5-13, 4-3) lost 77-76 to league-leader Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday night at the Farris Center when the Lumberjacks drew a foul with two seconds remaining and made 1 of 2 at the free-throw line to seal the victory. The Colonels (11-7, 5-2) dropped out of first place in the SLC when Northwestern State's Chudier Bile nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Demon's a 73-72 win over the Colonels on their home floor.

UCA will be playing its third of four consecutive upper echelon SLC teams on Saturday after beating Sam Houston State and dropping the one-point game to SFA, which beat No. 1 Duke earlier this season. After the Nicholls game, UCA is open next Wednesday before hosting Abilene Christian (4-1 in SLC play) next Saturday at the Farris Center.

The Bears and Colonels split their two meetings last season and both were pretty remarkable three-point shooting exhibitions, particularly by Nicholls. In Game 1, which UCA won 74-68 in Conway, the Colonels made 15 three-pointers, including 7 of 8 by Gavin Peppers. In the rematch a month later, won by Nicholls (100-57), the Colonels set a school and SLC record with 22 three-pointers (of 41) while UCA went 8 of 28.

The teams combined for 49 made threes. In the second game, Nicholls made only 11 two-point shots to go with the 22 threes, made by a combination of seven players.

The Bears played Wednesday without junior point guard DeAndre Jones, who was out with a sprained ankle. Junior guard Rylan Bergersen also played with a facemask after breaking his nose in Monday's practice. Jones missed eight games earlier in the season with an injury to the other ankle and returned to the lineup on Jan. 2 at Houston Baptist. He is averaging 22.3 points per game in SLC contests for the Bears, who have five players averaging in double figures in league play.

Bergersen is next at 15.6 points, coming off a 19-point effort against SFA, followed by Hayden Koval (12.0), Eddy Kayouloud (11.6) and Aaron Weidenaar (11.0). Weidenaar, UCA's only senior on the roster, went 5 of 10 from three-point range and scored 16 points to keep the Bears within striking distance of the Lumberjacks.

Dexter McClanahan leads the Colonels, averaging 15.1 points per game with a team-high 42 three-pointers. Warith Alatishe is third in the SLC in rebounding (8.8) and Kevin Johnson is third in assists (4.1). The Colonels have the league's best three-point defense, with opponents shooting just 26.3 percent from beyond the arc.

The Bears have made double-figure threes six times this season, and four times in the past five games. UCA has had 11 different players make at least one three-pointer, led by redshirt freshman Jaxson Baker with 27 and Weidenaar with 25. 

The game will be carried on The Bear 91.3 with Justin Acri and also on ESPN+.