Port Arthur-born and Lamar University-educated Steve Roccaforte attended several men's basketball games between LU and Louisiana-Lafayette when the schools played each other twice a season.

So it comes with some enthusiasm for Roccaforte that he's the Cardinals head coach when those schools play each other tonight for the first time in nine seasons.

"I can remember being in McDonald Gym when Andrew Toney played for USL and Mike Olliver played for Lamar, and it was always sold out," said Roccaforte, who evidently still thinks of ULL as the University of Southwestern Louisiana.

"Billy Tubbs was the coach and Bobby Paschal was the coach of USL. It was just an unbelievable rivalry game. Being from this area, it's similar to the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins."

Certainly, the rivalry has cooled since its heyday, when Lamar won four regular season Southland Conference titles and UL won the other two during a six-year span from 1977 to 1982.

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By CHRISTOPHER DABE