🆚 No. 3 Iowa State University
📆 Monday – December 29, 2025
⏰ 7 pm CT
🏟️ Hilton Coliseum – Ames, Iowa
📈 LIVE STATS
📺 ESPN+
Houston Christian University closes out 2025 and the non-conference portion of the slate with a trip to Ames, Iowa on Monday night to take on third-ranked Iowa State University. It is just the second meeting all-time between the two schools, with tip-off from Hilton Coliseum scheduled for 7 pm.
The Huskies haven't played since December 17, a 79-64 loss at Nicholls. Playing its third game in five days, the Huskies fell into a big hole to start the night and never fully recovered in dropping their third straight game. HCU is now 5-7 overall on the season and 1-3 to start Southland play.
An 11-0 run by the Colonels to open the evening later turned into a 20-point lead midway through the first half.
Ryan Bartley hit a three-pointer at the horn to get HCU to within nine, 31-22 at the break, and the Huskies got to within six, 35-29 three minutes into the second half on back-to-back scores by
Demarco Bethea. Nicholls would push the lead bak out to 14 at the under 12, and HCU got no closer than seven the rest of the way.
HCU shot 51% on the evening, but a season-high 18 turnovers led to 18 points for the hosts.
Kylin Green led four players in double-figures for the Huskies, scoring 15 points.
Demarco Bethea matched his career-high with 14 points while
Demari Williams finished one shy of his with 13 points.
Ryan Bartley also had 13 points while
Trent Johnson had game-highs of eight caroms and three helpers for the Huskies.
Craig Doty, the ninth head coach in program history, is now in his second season at the helm after guiding HCU to a 12-20 overall mark and 9-11 ledger in Southland Conference action in 2024-25. It was announced on December 9 that
Doty had signed a contract extension through the 2029-30 season.
The Huskies doubled their success rate from the previous season, going from six total wins to 12 and from four victories to nine in conference play, finishing seventh in the league after being picked to finish last. HCU advanced to the Southland Tournament and saw
Bryson Dawkins named All-Conference as just the second player in program history to pick up SLC First Team honors.
Elijah Brooks, who missed the first four games of the season, leads HCU at 12.3 points per night while also chipping in 4.5 boards, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Kylin Green is just behind him at 12.2 points to go with 4.4 boards and a Southland Conference leading 5.7 assists per game. He had a career-high 24 points in the loss to Bellarmine and has also registered a career-best 13 assists in the victory over ULM on November 13, the most in a game for HCU since Mike Moss had 13 against Chicago State in 2011.
The Huskies have a trio of players flirting with double-figures.
Trent Johnson hits at 9.8 points while chipping in 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists on the campaign. He leads the Huskies at a 44.4% clip from the arc while also hitting 88.5% from the stripe.
Demarco Bethea averaged 9.4 points and 4.2 rebounds over the season-long five-game road stretch (November 25 - December 6) which included a team-best 57.1% effort from the floor. He posted a career-best 14 points on 7-7 from the floor a win over Citadel and had a career-high nine boards in the trip finale at New Orleans. He has averaged 11.3 points and 6.8 rebounds over his last four games, and comes in at 9.7 points, 4.7 rebounds.
A slow start saw
Ryan Bartley score just 20 total points over the first four games of the season. He then scored in double-figures in four games on that long road stretch, including a season-best 16 in the conference-opening victory at New Orleans. After starting the campaign just 2-16 from deep, Bartley has since gone 18-42 for 43%, including a 4-8 performance in the home loss to McNeese on December 15. He is averaging 11.3 points over his last eight games and leads the squad at 12.8 points through the first four games of SLC action. Bartley is now checking in at 9.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists on the year.
In its final non-conference contest HCU faces its stiffest test to date in the 2025-26 campaign. The Huskies tackle an Iowa State club that has methodically risen up the national ranks, moving from a preseason ranking of 16th to its current No. 3 ranking, the second highest in program history. The Cyclones were No. 2 for a brief stretch last season as well as in 1957 and have three wins over ranked teams this season, including an 81-58 road drubbing of then-No. 1 Purdue on December 6.
It is the highest-ranked team HCU has faced since the season opener at No. 5 ranked Texas in 2021, and the second highest ranked team to play in program history. The Huskies squared off with No. 2 ranked Michigan State on December 18, 2017. HCU at Iowa State is one of two contests on Monday night featuring a Southland school against a top-three opponent, as McNeese takes on No. 2 Michigan at 6 pm in Ann Arbor.
T.J. Otzelberger is now in his fifth season in Ames, and has the Cylcones undefeated at 12-0 to begin the season, the third such start in school history and second under his watch. ISU hasn't played since December 21, a 91-60 victory over Long Beach State in Ames. Iowa State is currently ranked 15th in the nation in scoring (90.5 ppg) and ranks third in scoring margin (+27.5) and three-point field goal percentage (41.6%).
Milan Momcilovic, a 6-8 junior forward, headlines the offensive juggeraut as one of four players in double-figure scoring. He is scoring 18.3 points per game and leads the nation in three-point shooting hitting at a robust 55.2% on the year. He is also third in three's made per game, knocking down four per outing.
Joshua Jefferson, a 6'9, 240 senior forward, averages 17.7 points, seven rebounds and five assists while hitting 43% from the arc. 6'1 senior guard Tamin Lipsey averages 14.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and team highs of 5.8 assists and 2.9 steals per game. Killyan Toure, a 6'3 freshman guard, rounds out the quartet at 11 points, while Blake Buchanan, a 6'10 junior forward chips in 9.4 points and 6.3 rebounds.
The two schools have met once previously, a 64-56 victory by Iowa State on January 6, 2009 in Ames. HCU is 9-6 all-time on December 29, last playing on this date in a 143-92 thrashing of Dallas Christian University, the second-highest scoring game in program history. HCU has won five of its last six on December 29, including its last three.
Houston Christian University returns to conference play this Saturday when it travels to the Alamo City to take on longtime rival University of the Incarnate Word. Tip-off from the McDermott Convocation Center in San Antonio is slated for 4 pm.
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