HELENA, Mont. -- When the Frontier Conference was all said and done last season, the final game ended in the PE Center. The Saints cut down the nets and reclaimed their spot atop the conference.

Conference play for the Saints kicks off back in the PE Center Thursday in what figures to be another gauntlet in the Frontier. 

"The feeling is that it is a new season," Saints coach Kurt Paulson said. "The preseason games were great preparing our team for what's ahead with conference games but we have to turn the page with our intensity. The reason we are undefeated is our guys played well together. Every night we had a new player step up to help us win. The guys made the plays we needed to win those games. Conference is a new challenge with the stakes even higher."

After a bustling offseason in the Frontier -- one that saw three new coaching faces join the Frontier and one coach change teams -- the No. 22 Carroll College Saints will open conference play with a visit from the University of Providence, now helmed by former Montana Western coach Steve Keller. 

Providence (6-1) arrives with few early season accolades to its name, but a roster that is brimming with talent and is trending in the right direction. 

"Very intense atmosphere and physical play will be the theme for Thursday," Paulson said. "They have a nice mix of physical players and athleticism. We have to guard their penetration. They have multiple guys who can put it on the deck and get to rim."

The Argonauts are led by four transfers. Junior transfer Brandon Cotton's 18.7 points per game. The 5-10 guard leads four Argonauts scorers who average double figures. Another transfer, Jalen Shepard, a 6-2 guard out of Las Vegas, scores 17 points per game. Austin Starr, a transfer from Prairie View A&M, drops in 15.3 points per game, and Jaxen Hashley, a former Montana State football player, is averaging 10.9 points per game while leading the team in rebounds at 9.3 per night. 

While the Saints are NAIA-tournament experienced, Thursday will mark Paulson's first Frontier Conference game as a head coach. While he's been a part of many wins at Carroll College as a player, jumping back into the Frontier as a coach will add another layer of intrigue to the game. The Saints enter the game with a 9-0 record. 

The Saints have shown they have a variety of weapons to carry their offense on any given night. Seniors Match Burnham and Matt Wyman, along with junior Dane Warp, have all earned Frontier Conference Player of the Week honors early on this season. Unsurprisingly, those three lead the Saints in scoring.

Warp, after a big weekend at the Carroll Classic, leads the Saints with 21.3 points per game. Burnham (18.4) and Wyman (18) are close behind. 

Any of the three could shoulder the load on any given night. 

The Saints will welcome back Thomas Austefjord and Eetu Villa back into the rotation after injuries kept them out of recent games. Starter Ife Kalejaiye will be a game-time decision on Thursday. Their depth will be critical for the Saints to have another strong run through the Frontier. 

With the absence of Kalejaiye, the Saints have seen true freshman Shamrock Campbell pile up minutes at guard and play solid basketball. The youngster from Spokane, Washington, is averaging 10.7 points while shooting 57 percent from the field, 54 percent from the three-point line and posting a 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in 34 minutes of play each night.

The Saints are leaning into their freshmen, and Campbell and Serbian frosh Jovan Sljivancanin are delivering. Sljivancanin is averaging eight points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 48 percent from the three-point line. 
 
Saturday, the Saints face a Montana State-Northern team (6-1) that features a balanced attack with six players scoring in double figures. The Lights graduated two-time Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Reeves, but with new transfers in the mix, could be a factor in the Frontier. 

The men's games tip off at 7:30 on Thursday and Saturday night in the PE Center. 

"Hoping to get a great crowd for our first conference game to help push our guys over the edge," Paulson said. 

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