GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence men's basketball team will look to rebound after a tough weekend when they take on Rocky Mountain College and Montana Western this weekend.

The Argos (18-4, 6-4), who are ranked #11 in the new national poll, will face off against the Battlin' Bears (6-13, 1-9) before returning home to face Montana Western (10-11, 3-7).

Head coach Steve Keller believes the team is itching to compete again after suffering two straight home losses.

"We've had two great practices," he said. "The intensity has picked up. You can't tell until we play tomorrow night against Rocky but I expect us to come out and guard hard and play hard on offense. We'll see what happens."

Keller has been preaching to the team about coming out hard straight from the tip. In the past three games they've played the Argos have gone into halftime trailing by seven points or more.

"Our defensive intensity in the first half has been lacking," Keller said. "We've given up too many points in the first half. I don't think we've come out and played hard. In the second half we've played hard and gotten back in the games and even won a few. We seem to be in a first-half slump right now but I think it can all be contributed to our effort."

Though the Battlin' Bears are at the bottom of the Frontier Conference standings, the Argos know enough about them to know they can't take them lightly. They lost to Carroll in triple-overtime earlier in the year, and a few weeks ago led for a majority of the game against Lewis-Clark State

"Rocky plays great home," Keller said. "Rocky can beat anybody in our league on any given night, especially at home. We have to be ready to go."

The Argos will return to the McLaughlin Center on Saturday night to take on Montana Western. The game will be broadcast on SWX Montana and will tip off at 7:35 p.m.

Argo fans will be hoping for a special performance from Zaccheus Darko-Kelly, who leads the conference in scoring (21.3 ppg), steals (2.4 spg) and blocks (1.5 bpg). Darko-Kelly ranks 6^th nationally in total scoring (448 points), 8^th in points per game, 9^th in free throw percentage (85%) and 9^th in total steals (51). As a team, the Argos lead the nation in free throw percentage at 79%.

As the season hits February and the postseason creeps closer, the team knows the importance of every game.

"It's two tough games for us," Keller said. "We have to try and find a way to get a win."