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🆚 University of the Incarnate Word
📆 Tuesday – January 27, 2026
⏰ 7 pm CT
🏟️ Sharp Gymnasium - Houston, Texas
📈 LIVE STATS
📺 ESPN+
🗒️ Game PROGRAM
🗒️ Game NOTES
After being postponed one night due to inclement weather in the Houston area, the season-long four-game homestand for Houston Christian University will come to its conclusion on Tuesday night as the Huskies host longtime rival University of the Incarnate Word. The second meeting of the two schools this season is set to tip-off at 7 pm in Sharp Gymnasium, and opens the second half of the 22-game Southland Conference slate.
HCU dropped its last outing, a 68-51 decision to University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Saturday afternoon in Sharp Gymnasium as the Vaqueros pulled away from a tight game with 13 minutes left to keep the Huskies from winning their third straight on the homestand.
Ryan Bartley would hit consecutively from long range to get the deficit for the Huskies to 31-24 at the intermission, and HCU then came out of the break with a solid push as another from distance by
D'Aundre Samuels sliced the visitors lead to just three, 33-30. The lead for UTRGV was still only five with 13:13 to play on a basket underneath by
Demarco Bethea, but that is where things began to lean towards the Vaqueros.
An extended run by the visitors started with MgGhee hitting a three and ended with McGhee scoring on a layup. The Vaqueros used a strong defensive stretch as well, and the 15-4 run ended with UTRGV holding a 57-42 advantage, effectively putting the game out of reach with 8:06 to go.
HCU shot 43% for the evening and 38% from the arc, while UTRGV shot 53% and 44%. The two teams went the first 18 minutes of the game without a foul called and there were just 14 whistled in a swiftly moving contest that saw just 12 free throws combined.
Bethea had his first career double-double to lead the Huskies, as he matched his career-high for the third time this season with 14 points and also hauled in a career-best 10 rebounds.
D'Aundre Samuels was the only other HCU player in double digits with a dozen points and five boards, while
Demari Williams and
Ryan Bartley chipped in eight apiece.
Trent Johnson finished with a career-best eight assists.
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 in early December that
Doty has 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 and has not played since returning from the Christmas break, still 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 11.5 points to go with 4.2 boards while sitting second in the Southland Conference at 4.9 assists per night. He had a career-high 24 points in the loss over Thanksgiving week to Bellarmine and 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.
Green flirted with a triple-double in the overtime home loss to Southeastern, finishing with eight points, nine boards and 10 assists, and posted 10 assists or more for the third time this season in the win over Northwestern State. He is the first player to post three double-digit assist games in a single season since Ricky Bennett in 2003-04.
Since the Christmas break,
Demari Williams had provided a huge spark for the Huskies, first off the bench before then making his first start of the season at UIW. Williams had a then career-best 19 points in the loss at then No. 3 Iowa State and broke it five days later with his first-ever 20-point night, scoring 22 in the loss to UIW. Post holidays, he has scored in double-figures five times in eight games, and in those outings (seven starts) he is leading the Huskies in scoring (13.4) while shooting 49% from the floor and 41% from deep.
While putting just two players in double-digit scoring in all games, the Huskies boasts a quartet of players registering double-figures in conference play.
Elijah Brooks has the team lead at 11.5, with Williams sitting a few ticks back at 11.2 per game. After his double-double against UTRGV,
Demarco Bethea averages 10.7 while leading HCU on the backboards at 5.5 per in conference action, and is the leader of six players averaging 3.4 rebounds or more in SLC play.
Kylin Green averages 10.5 points, 5.5 boards and 4.9 assists in SLC play.
D'Aundre Samuels has stepped into the starting lineup over the last four contests, averaging 9.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game over that span. Those numbers include a season-best 15-point, five-board, six-assist, five-steal stat-sheet stuffing outing in the win over East Texas A&M in the homestand opener.
Trent Johnson posted a career-high of 19 points in that victory over ETAMU and then had a career-best eight assists in the loss to UTRGV on Saturday afternoon.
HCU and UIW renew their long-standing rivalry, the most second-most played series in program history for the Huskies. The Cardinals now have a 27-16 edge in the all-time series
after a 73-56 victory over the Huskies at the McDermott Center in San Antonio earlier in the month. HCU has won 14 of the last 21 meetings, and still leads the series 15-12 since the two schools joined the Southland.
Head Coach Shane Heirman is in his third year at the helm in the Alamo City, and has the Cardinals sitting at 9-11 overall and 4-7 in conference play following Saturday's 79-71 loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in San Antonio. The Cardinals sit just one game ahead of the Huskies in the league standings, just outside the top-eight spots that qualify for the Southland Conference Tournament.
The Cardinals are third in the Southland in scoring at 76 points per game and sit middle of the pack defensively, giving up 72.1 per. Davion Bailey (18.2 ppg) and Tahj Staveskie (17.9 ppg) continue to be the most potent combo in the league, as they are first and second in scoring overall in the conference.
Bailey, a 6'4 senior guard, is second in the league in minutes played (34.5) and ranks first in three's per game (3.2) and fourth in three-point percentage (35%). Staveskie a 6'1 graduate transfer guard from Cleveland State, is averaging 4.4 rebounds and ranks fourth in the conference in assists with 4.5 helpers per game. He leads the SLC in minutes (35) while ranking ninth in three's made per game at 2.2 an outing.
6'7 junior forward Jordan Pyke is averaging 11.2 points overall and 5.2 boards. Harold Woods, a 6'5 senior transfer from Northeastern leads the Cardinals in rebounding at 7.0 per game, fifth best in the Southland.
HCU holds an 8-10 mark in games played on January 27. The Huskies last played on this date last season, a 70-62 victory at Southeastern Louisiana that saw
Bryson Dawkins and
Julian Mackey each go for 27 points.
Houston Christian University will begin a four-game road stretch following the game with UIW. The Huskies head down the coastline for a second meeting of the season with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to get the trip started before a Monday night rematch in the Valley with UTRGV.
#DawgsUp
