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Northwestern State Demons (10-16, 5-8 SLC) at HBU Huskies (9-14, 5-7 SLC)
Wednesday, Feb. 20 – 7 p.m.
Sharp Gym – Houston, Texas
Broadcast (Husky Sports Network/Lonnie King)
Live Stats
Game Notes
Game Program
HOUSTON – The HBU men's basketball team has won four of its last five games to climb up the Southland Conference standings into a tie for seventh and looks to continue its winning ways this Wednesday evening inside Sharp Gym when the Huskies host Northwestern State at 7:00 p.m. Husky fans who can't make it to Sharp can still catch the game on the Husky Sports Network with Lonnie King providing play-by-play commentary, available at HBUHuskies.com.
After winning their opening game of the season over Lamar, the Huskies (9-14, 5-7 SLC) hit a six-game losing skid but the recent five-game stretch has pulled them into a tie with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Central Arkansas for seventh place. Those three teams sit just a game behind Stephen F. Austin for sixth place and one-and-a-half games behind Lamar in fifth. The top eight teams in the standings qualify for the conference tournament. Northwestern State (10-16, 5-8 SLC), HBU's next opponent, sits just half a game behind the Huskies in the standings.
This past Saturday, HBU went into the half trailing Nicholls by eight but came out hot in the second half and used a 19-2 run in the middle of the second period to gain the lead and hold off the Colonels for the 88-82 win. The Huskies got a career-high 16 points from freshman
Benjamin Uloko who just missed out on the second double-double of his young career with nine rebounds.
HBU maintains the top offense in the Southland, averaging 79.7 points per game for the season and 76.8 ppg in SLC play. Sophomore
Ian DuBose, currently second in the league with 17.9 ppg, is on pace for one of the best three point shooting seasons in program history. DuBose is currently connecting from beyond the arc at a 45.6 percent (41-of-90) rate which would rank as the fourth-best mark in a single season ever at HBU.
The Demons come into the game having won three of their last five games, including a 15 point victory at home over SFA in their last outing. Senior Ishmael Lane leads NSU, averaging a double-double in conference play with 14.8 ppg and a league-best 12.2 rebounds per game. Lane is shooting 59.2 percent from the floor in SLC games.
As a team, NSU is shooting 31.8 percent from long-range against SLC opponents with that number raised in their last game thanks to a 13-0f-26 outing against SFA. In that game, junior LaTerrance Reed knocked down 7-of-11 from deep and scored a career-high 27 points.
HBU owns a 16-15 all-time record against the Demons and has won the last three meetings, all of which came in Natchitoches, La. Wednesday will mark the first game between the two teams in Sharp Gym since the 2014-15 season.
HBU travels up I-45 on Saturday, Feb. 23, for the second matchup of the season with the conference-leading Bearkats of Sam Houston State inside Johnson Coliseum at 7:00 p.m.
