No. 5 HBU Huskies (10-17, 6-8 SLC) vs. No. 8 UIW Cardinals (7-24, 3-11 SLC)
Wednesday, Mar. 9 – 5 p.m.
Merrell Center - Katy, Texas
TV (ESPN+/David Saltzman/Ben Braun)
Audio (Husky Sports Network/Garrett Jones)
Live Stats
Game Notes
KATY, Texas – For the second consecutive year, the HBU men's basketball team will face the UIW Cardinals in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament on Wednesday evening in the Merrell Center at 5:00 p.m. Fans can watch the game on ESPN+ with David Saltzman and Ben Braun on the call while Garrett Jones will be providing audio play-by-play on the Husky Sports Network available at HBUHuskies.com.
Wednesday will mark the fourth meeting of the season between the two teams after they first faced each other in the Southland Conference Tip-Off Event in January before playing twice in conference play. The Cardinals (7-24, 3-11 SLC) won that first meeting at the Merrell Center, 60-50, with the Huskies (10-17, 6-8 SLC) winning both meetings in SLC action. HBU won in San Antonio, 68-65, and then took the meeting in Sharp Gym by a score of 82-68. The two teams played in the opening game of last season's SLC Tournament with the Huskies defeating UIW 80-68. HBU has won six of the last seven meetings with the Cardinals and 10 of the last 13.
HBU is led by second team all-SLC and all-defensive selection
Darius Lee who has stood out amongst his conference peers all season. In SLC play, Lee ranks first in steals (3.1 spg), second in scoring (22.6 ppg), second in assists (3.8 apg), third in assist/turnover ratio (1.4), fourth in field goal percentage (.523) and sixth in rebounding (7.8 rpg). On the national level, he is sixth in the country with 2.4 steals per game, 46
th in field goal percentage (.537), 51
st in rebounds per game (8.3), 54
th in defensive rebounds per game (6.0), and 64
th in scoring (18.3).
Junior
Khristion Courseault has stepped up over the last seven games, averaging 18 ppg during that stretch, including a career-high 30 points this past Saturday against McNeese. He is the team's second-leading scorer in SLC play, averaging 12.1 ppg against conference opponents. As a team, he Huskies head into the tournament ranked 42
nd in steals per game, with 8.0, and 45
th in turnovers forced, with 14.96.
UIW is led by senior guard RJ Glasper who is averaging 15.7 ppg for the season, 17 ppg in SLC play, and earned third team all-conference honors. Johnny Hughes III is second on the team with 11.8 ppg with Josh Morgan adding 11.7 ppg. Drew Lutz leads the team with 3.77 assists per game. In conference play, the Cardinals were out-scored by 8.4 ppg and held a league-worst rebound margin of -5.3. UIW also picked up wins against two of the top three seeds in the tournament, defeating New Orleans and Southeastern.
In the three meetings between the two teams this season, Lee averaged 17.3 ppg and eight rpg for the Huskies. Morgan has been UIW's top scorer, averaging 18.3 ppg. HBU has out-rebounded the Cardinals by 9.3 rebounds per game.
Fans can purchase tickets
HERE using promo code "
HBU22."
Wednesday's game is win or go home for both teams with the winner advancing to face fourth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday, Mar. 10, at 5:00 p.m.
