GREAT FALLS, Mont. – After suffering their first loss of the season on Saturday, the 8^th ranked University of Providence men's basketball teams looks to get back on track with a paramount road trip this weekend. 

Following their disappointing performance in Helena, the Argos (15-1, 3-1) have hit the practice court with a renewed sense of urgency, head coach Steve Keller said.

"The team has been really focused in practice this week" he said. "This is the most I've seen them focus in a while. The intensity picked up. We don't like a loss but sometimes a loss wakes you up and makes you realize that you have to work harder. I think we've done that this week."

Keller has used the opportunity to preach the importance of rebounding and taking care of the rock to his team. Against Carroll, the Argos gave up 14 points off offensive rebounds and 16 points off of turnovers in the first half.

"We have to work on defensive rebounding and will continue to do so," Keller said. "And we have to take care of the basketball. Some of our turnovers turned into run-outs for them that turned into points."

The schedule isn't doing the Argos any favors. Providence is in the middle of four straight road games, and have two tough games coming up on this weekend.

On Thursday, the Argos will travel to Butte to take on Montana Tech (10-5, 2-2). Keller is impressed with the Orediggers defense, claiming that they are one of the best defensive teams in the conference. Offensively, they are led by Sindou Diallo, who is averaging 21.1 points per game. As a team the Orediggers have four players averaging double-digits.

"They're well-coached," Keller said. "They execute their stuff. They have a good big man and they have good guards that can shoot the ball. They're a good matchup."

Things get even tougher on Saturday. The Argos head to Lewiston, Idaho to take on #12 Lewis-Clark State (15-1, 3-1). The Warriors have an identical record to the Argos, having suffered their only loss of the season to Carroll as well. The Warriors are led by Damek Mitchell who is averaging 13.7 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game.

"They're talented," Keller said. "They're going to be tough. They're athletic and deep."

The matchup will also showcase the Frontier Conference's only two players who made the Watch List of the Bevo Francis Award. The Award is given at the end of the season to the best college basketball player from a small college. Both Mitchell and Zaccheus Darko-Kelly both qualified for the award.

Though the Argos have a big weekend ahead of them, the team remains focused on the task at hand.

"We just have to take one game at a time," Keller said. "We have to try to win that game on Thursday. We're just concentrating on Tech."