HCU vs. Champion Christian
Houston Christian University hits the floor for the first time in a week when it hosts Champion Christian College on Saturday night in Sharp Gym. The Huskies, who have been off since last Saturday for finals week, face the Tigers to start a three-game stretch that will finish off the non-conference slate leading into the Christmas break.
HCU is coming off a 77-50 loss at then No. 12 ranked Texas in Austin on Saturday. Down just 18-17 at the second media timeout of the first half, the Huskies went ice-cold from the floor, with a 19-0 run by the Longhorns putting the game out of reach.
The Huskies pulled to within 16 on a whirling dervish three-point play by
Marcus Greene with 13:44 to go, and stayed within striking distance for the next five minutes, with a
Pierce Bazil to
Porter Bazil connection for a bucket forcing a Horns timeout with just under nine minutes to play. Texas would respond out of that break with an 8-0 run and cruise to victory.
The offensive attack was led by Greene, who collected 15 points, while
Michael Imariagbe notched his second straight double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Bonke Maring came one point short of a double-double with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while
Jay Alvarez finished with seven points for the Huskies, who shot just 30% on the evening.
Jay Alvarez and
Marcus Greene continue to sit atop the scoring chart for the Huskies. Alvarez leads the Huskies at 14.6 points and grabs 4.6 rebounds per game, while Greene is averaging 14.3 points to go with 4.1 rebounds and a team-high 3.3 assists.
Greene also leads the Huskies from the arc and free-throw line, shooting 40.7% from distance and 84.6 from the charity stripe. Imariagbe rounds out the trio of double-digit scorers for HCU at 10.9 ppg, while chipping in seven caroms and 1.3 blocked shots per outing.
Maring has been a stat-sheet stuffer thus far, scoring a shade under ten points per game (9.4), while hauling in a team-best 9.0 rebounds. He is second on the team in assists at 2.4, and his 2.0 steals per game leads the club. After a foul-plagued opener at now No. 18-ranked BYU in which he had just two rebounds, Maring has cleaned the backboards to the tune of 10 rebounds per game, posting double-digits in five of the seven games since.
Champion Christian comes to Sharp Gym with a 6-6 overall record. This is the fourth consecutive season the two teams have met with HCU holding a 3-0 lead in the all-time series. HCU won the most recent meeting in last year's home opener, cruising past the Tigers for a 119-97 victory.
Bonke Maring led the way with 27 points while
Pierce Bazil and
Tristan Moore chipped in 17 and 13 respectively.
The Tigers are have a quartet of players averaging double-digits for a team that puts up right at 77 points per night. Jamal Clark, a 5'11 guard, averages 19 points and eight rebounds, both of which lead the squad. Veteran southpaw guard AJ Williams, a 6'0 senior, returns for his fourth appearance in Sharp Gym, and is averaging 17.8 ppg, 3.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists on the season.
KJ Younge, a 5'10 junior guard and Xavier Hall, a 6'5 senior forward, score 10.7 points and 10.4 points to round out the group. Younge leads the team with 4.2 assists per while Hall hauls in 4.8 rebounds. A pair of 6'8 junior centers, Malik Laurent and Noah Brooks, man the paint at a combined 15.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.
HCU will return to action next week on the road, traveling to Dallas for a Tuesday night affair at SMU, before a Friday evening tilt in College Station against Texas A&M wraps up the first half of the schedule.
#DawgsUp
