UIW Cardinals (6-12, 0-5 SLC) at HCU Huskies (6-12, 3-2 SLC)
Thursday, Jan. 19 – 7 p.m.
Sharp Gym - Houston, Texas
TV (ESPN+/Garrett Jones/Van Chancellor)
Live Stats
Game Notes
HOUSTON – The HCU men's basketball team, tied for third in the league standings, hosts its first meeting of the season with the UIW Cardinals in Southland Conference play on Thursday evening in Sharp Gym, looking to build on a pair of wins from last week.
Five games into the conference slate, the Huskies (6-12, 3-2 SLC) stand in a four-way tie for third place after winning their two league home games and taking a road win this past Saturday at McNeese, 90-81.
Brycen Long scored a career-high 32 points in the win and
Bonke Maring added 26 points.
Long's performance, paired with his 21 points in HCU's win over Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday, earned him SLC Player of the Week honors. He now ranks 18
th in the country in made threes, with 56, and his 42.4 percent (56-of-132) mark from behind the arc is 28
th-best nationally.
In conference play, Maring is second among all players in field goal percentage, shooting 68.5 percent (37-of-54) from the floor. Freshman
Andrew King is fourth in the league with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.1 and continues to lead all conference freshmen in assists. Long, averaging 16 ppg for the season, is averaging 18 ppg in conference, ranking fourth.
UIW (6-12, 0-5 SLC) has lost its last six, most recently falling at home to Southeastern by a 75-71 final. Freshman guard Niki Krause led the Cardinals with 19 points off the bench while Jonathan Cisse added 15.
Cisse, a junior guard, leads UIW with 14.1 ppg and is shooting 42.1 percent (32-of-76) from three-point range. He also leads the conference and ranks 13
th nationally in free throw percentage, making 90.8 (59-of-65) from the foul line. Senior Brandon Swaby is the team's top rebounder, averaging 4.8 rebounds per game.
The Huskies won both league games between the two teams last season after falling to UIW at the Southland Preseason Tip-Off. HCU has held a distinct advantage in recent history against the Cardinals, winning 11 of the last 14 meetings. All-time, however, the Huskies are 13-23 against UIW.
Thursday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ Garrett Jones on play-by-play and coach Van Chancellor providing color.
HCU remains at home for its next game, taking on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 7:00 p.m.
