HCU Huskies (5-12, 2-2 SLC) at McNeese Cowboys (5-12, 2-2 SLC)
Saturday, Jan. 14 – 3:30 p.m.
Legacy Center - Lake Charles, Louisiana
TV (ESPN+)
Audio (Husky Sports Network/Garrett Jones)
Live Stats
Game Notes
LAKE CHARLES, La. – HCU and McNeese are set to clash on Saturday afternoon in a Southland Conference men's basketball matchup at the Legacy Center on the McNeese State campus, marking the first meeting since the teams' historic 149-144 four overtime game last season.
When the Huskies (5-12, 2-2 SLC) and Cowboys (5-12, 2-2 SLC) last met, last year's regular season finale for both teams, they combined to score 293 points in 60 minutes of gameplay with HCU pulling out a 149-144 victory. The Huskies, remarkably, trailed with less than one second left in each of the first three overtime periods before winning it in the fourth. The late
Darius Lee tied the school and conference record with 52 points.
HCU heads to Lake Charles fresh off a strong 68-59 home win over Texas A&M-Commerce, holding the Lions below 40 percent shooting from the floor. The Huskies got a combined 51 points from the trio of
Brycen Long,
Maks Klanjscek and
Bonke Maring in the win, shooting 45 percent (9-of-20) from three and 48 percent (24-of-50) overall. Those three have started every game this season and combine to average 40.7 ppg.
McNeese has lost its last two games, a home 82-80 overtime loss to A&M-Commerce and most recently an 89-75 defeat at Northwestern State. Through four conference games, the Cowboys' starting five are all averaging from 12.6 ppg to 13.6 ppg. In the last two games, the starters have accounted for all but six of the team's points.
Sophomore guard Trae English leads the team with 12.1 ppg and 3.4 assists per game while sophomore Christian Shumate nearly averages a double-double with 11.5 ppg and 9.3 rebounds per game. The Cowboys are shooting 43 percent from the floor as a team and 33.6 percent from three.
The Huskies are 8-22 all-time versus McNeese with the teams splitting last season's two meetings. The Cowboys won the meeting in Lake Charles, 78-75, on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Zach Scott.
Saturday's game will be shown live on ESPN+ while Garrett Jones will provide play-by-play on the Husky Sports Network available at HCUHuskies.com.
The Huskies will be back at home in Sharp Gym for a pair of games next week, first hosting UIW on Thursday, Jan. 19, and then Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, Jan. 21.
