COLUMBIA, Mo. – The HCU men's basketball team found itself in a quick hole on Saturday morning at Mizzou Arena and never recovered, falling to the host Missouri Tigers in a 105-69 final. Houston Christian University (HCU), formerly Houston Baptist University (HBU), underwent a name change in September 2022.
Missouri (7-0) came out hot, jumping ahead 16-0 on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor, 4-of-5 from three, before the Huskies (1-6) got on the board thanks to a trio of
Brycen Long free throws after getting fouled on a three attempt at the 15:06 mark. The Tigers missed their first field goal attempt of the game before making the next nine and leading 23-3 just over seven minutes into the game.
Following a Missouri basket, the Huskies enjoyed a stretch where they connected on 7-of-7 from the floor to cut their deficit down to 14, 34-20, with 8:25 left in the half. The Tigers managed to get their lead back up around 20 and keep it that way before taking a 54-30 lead into the break.
The second half opened with a 10-4 Missouri run and the Tigers eventually led by as many as 35. A seven-point burst by the Huskies with five points from Maks Klanjscek and a layup from Andrew King brought the score to 85-57 with 6:51 remaining. Missouri kept the Huskies from getting any closer the rst of the game.
King, a true freshman had the best statistical game of his young career with new career-highs of 13 points, seven assists, four rebounds and four steals. Klanjscek finished with a team-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting while
Tristan Moore added 11 for the Huskies.
The Huskies out-rebounded the Tigers, 32-28, but turned the ball over 22 times to just 11 miscues by Missouri. HCU finished the game shooting 44.6 percent (25-of-56) from the floor but connected on just 20 percent (5-of-25) from beyond the arc. Missouri, meanwhile, finished the game shooting 64.2 percent (43-of-67) from the field and 44 percent (11-of-25) from three.
HCU returns home for the next four games on the Huskies' home floor in Sharp Gym beginning with a Thursday, Dec. 1, matchup against the Denver Pioneers at 7:00 p.m.
