Nicholls State hosts Southeastern this Saturday in the Colonels’ “Red Out” game.The Colonels will look to make their conference run with a much-needed win against their rival. Nicholls lost two conference games last week against Northwestern State and Sam Houston State.

Nicholls head coach J.P. Piper said the Colonels need to get “tougher.”

Piper was not happy with the way his team played last week and it showed at practice Monday. The Colonels’ practice was intense, long and pushed the team.

“I didn’t say much the first two hours of practice,” Piper said. “I started trying to demand more for the last 45 minutes to an hour, knowing that they were tired.”

The Colonels showed signs of fatigue during the practice but fought through the pain and did what Coach Piper demanded.

“I’m just trying to build their mental and physical toughness because we didn’t have enough of it on the road last week,” Piper said. “It may not be the right recipe, but I don’t really know how else to go at it. “You can run ’em and make ’em do pushups and all that, but I prefer a long and intense practice where we work on basketball.”

With the Lions coming into the Colonels’ backyard Saturday, Nicholls needs to add more wins in Southland Conference play.

Packing the stands and showing support in the “Red Out” game could give the Colonels a big advantage.

“It’s huge for us,” Piper said. “We feed off the energy, and we’ve been pretty good at home this year. The band, students and fans that come from the local community really give us a spark. These guys have worked hard, and they deserve their support. They’re going to come out and give the fans an enjoyable game to watch.”

Earlier this season, the Colonels defeated LSU in Baton Rouge and gave Texas A&M a run for their money in a loss.

Piper feels that conference games are tougher to win than games against larger schools.

“It’s because the level of detail that a conference opponent will go into scouting,” Piper said. “Those bigger schools depend on their athleticism and don’t always prepare to the level that our sister schools do in the league.”

The Colonels will take on Southeastern Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in Stopher Gym.