GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The 8^th ranked University of Providence men's basketball team will play the last game of its four-game road trip on Thursday when they travel north to Havre to face Montana State Northern.

On Saturday, the Argos (16-2, 4-2) will return to the McLaughlin Center for a rematch against the team that gave them their first loss of the season, #9 Carroll.

The game against the Lights (11-7, 1-5) will end a four-game road trip for the Argos. The trip started Jan. 11 with the loss to the Fighting Saints (14-4, 5-1), and continued last week with a win over Montana Tech (11-6, 3-3) before a 19-point loss to #12 Lewis-Clark State (17-1, 5-1).

Despite the rough stretch, head coach Steve Keller said his team has responded well in practice. He wants his team to have more defensive urgency, which he hopes could help create easier offensive opportunities in transition.

"We had some great practices this week," he said. "We had one of the best practices of the year last night. We've regained their focus. We didn't play very well this last week against two quality teams. I credit our guys for getting a win on the road against Tech, but we weren't very good defensively. We have to have that defensive edge again."

After playing every team in the Frontier Conference once, the Argos sit at #3 in the conference standings, a game behind both the Fighting Saints (14-4, 5-1) and the Warriors (17-1, 5-1).

"We like to think that we're near the top of this group of teams," Keller said. "Last Saturday night the bottom team beat the top team. There are seven quality teams in our league. If you don't' show up to play it's going to be bad. We had a rough stretch of games. We know what the road is like now. We like where we're sitting."

Thursday night will be a test for the Argos. The first time the two teams met, the Argos ran the Lights out of the gym in a 100-65 victory. and the squad knows that the Lights will be coming for revenge on their home floor. 

"We played a pretty close to perfect game against them last time," Keller said. "We're not 35 points better than Northern. I know that, the players know that. They are one of the most talented teams in our league. They are capable of going on a run and making a push in the conference."

On Saturday, the Fighting Saints will come up to Great Falls for a big-time Frontier Conference matchup. Though Keller is keeping his team focused on Northern, he knows it's a big game.

"We don't like to think about the Carroll game," Keller said. "But because we lost to them, I'm sure the team will be highly motivated for that game. They'll be highly motivated for both games this weekend."

Saturday's game will be sponsored by Scheels. At halftime, the University of Providence will be hosting a military appreciation presentation. All members of the military will get a discount for the game. The game will also be recognized Coaches vs. Cancer, where all coaches will wear tennis shoes while coaching.