HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team released a 2022-23 schedule that features three 2021-22 NCAA Tournament participants, the reigning NIT champions and 18 Southland Conference games Friday.
 
Southeastern is coming off a 2021-22 campaign that saw the Lions finish 19-15 overall, win the Southland Conference Tip-Off Tournament, advance to the SLC Tournament championship game and participate in the Basketball Classic. Reigning Southland Coach of the Year returns just five letter winners from last season's squad, but has bolstered his roster with an influx of eight talented newcomers for 2022-23.
 
SLU's 2022-23 season opens as home, as the Lions welcome defending NAIA national champion Loyola (N.O.) for a Nov. 7 contest. Other visitors to the University Center during nonconference play include William Carey (Nov. 26), Belhaven (Dec. 7), Troy (Dec. 17) and Southern (Dec. 21).
 
Southeastern opens its non-conference slate with a two-game swing that features a pair of 2021-22 NCAA Tournament participants out of the Mountain West Conference, as the Lions will travel to face Colorado State Nov. 11 and Wyoming Nov. 13.
 
SLU will then head to Boone, North Carolina to compete in a MTE hosted by Appalachian State. Southeastern's opening game of the event versus Kennesaw State Nov. 18 will feature a reunion of sorts, as the Owls are coached by Amir Abdur-Rahim, a three-time All-Southland Conference guard at SLU who as a senior helped the Lions to a regular season league title.
 
The Lions will also face Campbell (Nov. 19) and host Appalachian State (Nov. 20) during the event. Southeastern wraps up its nonconference road slate with three games versus 2021-22 NIT qualifiers, beginning with tournament champion Xavier (Nov. 30) and followed by trips to Dayton (Dec. 3) and Vanderbilt (Dec. 30).
 
All told, Southeastern's 13 nonconference opponents combined for 10 winning seasons, six 20-plus win campaigns and a combined winning percentage of .617 (256-159) in 2021-22.
 
"As usual we like to challenge our guys in nonconference play to prepare us for Southland Conference play," Kiefer commented. "We're working a lot of new guys in and we haven't faced adversity together as a team yet. We want to see how our team responds when playing NCAA Tournament-caliber teams in hostile atmospheres."
 
Southeastern opens Southland Conference play on the road Dec. 15 at defending league regular season champion Nicholls. The Lions open their SLC home schedule versus HBU Jan. 5 in the University Center. SLU will face all of its nine league foes in a home-and-home during a conference schedule that wraps March 1 at HBU.
 
"I'm really excited to see how our team competes in the Southland Conference," Kiefer said. "We feel this year's team is deeper and more versatile. Last season, we depended on hitting outside shots and we expect to be able to score it better in the paint this year."
 
The 2022-23 Southland Conference Tournament is set for March 5-8 at the Legacy Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
 
2022-23 Southeastern Men's Basketball Schedule
Nov. 7 – Loyola (N.O.)
Nov. 11 – at Colorado State
Nov. 13 – at Wyoming
Nov. 18 – vs. Kennesaw State#
Nov. 19 – vs. Campbell#
Nov. 20 – at Appalachian State#
Nov. 26 – William Carey
Nov. 30 – at Xavier
Dec. 3 – at Dayton
Dec. 7 – Belhaven
Dec. 15 – at Nicholls*
Dec. 17 – Troy
Dec. 21 – Southern
Dec. 30 – at Vanderbilt
Jan. 5 – HBU*
Jan. 7 – Lamar*
Jan. 12 – at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi*
Jan. 14 – at UIW*
Jan. 19 – Northwestern State*
Jan. 21 – Texas A&M-Commerce*
Jan. 26 – New Orleans*
Jan. 28 – at New Orleans*
Feb. 2 – UIW*
Feb. 4 – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi*
Feb. 9 – at McNeese*
Feb. 11 – Nicholls*
Feb. 16 – at Northwestern State*
Feb. 18 – at Texas A&M-Commerce*
Feb. 23 – at Lamar*
Feb. 25 – McNeese*
March 1 – at HBU*
March 5-8 – at Southland Conference Tournament@
 
Home games in bold | # - Appalachian State MTE (Boone, N.C.) | * - Southland Conference game | @ - Lake Charles, La.
 
HARDWOOD CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the basketball program are encouraged to join the Hardwood Club.  Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letterwinners.  All membership fees and donations to Hardwood Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern basketball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Basketball, follow @LionUpMBB and @DavidKieferSLU on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.