🆚 Louisiana Christian University
📆 Tuesday – November 3, 2026
⏰ 7 pm CT
🏟️ Historic Sharp Gymnasium – Houston, Texas
📈 LIVE STATS
📺 ESPN+
🗒️ GAME PROGRAM
Houston Christian University opens up its 62nd season of basketball when it hosts Louisiana Christian University on Tuesday night. Tip-off in historic Sharp Gymnasium is scheduled for 7 pm. HCU is one of three Southland Conference schools who did not open on Monday evening, along with LSU-New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana.
Houston Christian University closed out a three-game preseason slate with a convincing 101-72 victory over University of Southerm Mississippi last Wednesday night.
HCU trailed 18-17 with 11:36 to go in the first half before methodically beginning to pull away. A three-pointer by
Aiden Miller pushed the lead to double-digits for the first time at 34-24 with 5:58 to go in the half.
That edge was whittled down to three at 36-33 with 3:24 on the clock, when HCU exploded for 14 points over the final stretch to open things up. A layup by
Mambourou Mara was followed by a three-ball from
D'Aundre Samuels, and
Esyah Pippa-White closed the half with a layup to to give HCU a 50-34 lead at the break.
Southern Miss would get no closer than 13 the rest of the way, with the HCU lead ballooning to as many as 30, finally on a three-pointer by Miller with four minutes to go.
Samuels led four players in double-digits with 23 points, going 3-5 from the arc while adding four assists.
Aiden Miller went 5-9 from long range and finished with 19 points. Mara added 11 points, eight boards and five assists while
Kam Clark closed out the quartet with 10 points.
The Huskies are coming off a second consecutive 12-20 season under
Craig Doty, who enters his third season at the helm. HCU went 8-14 and tied for seventh place in the league and advanced to its second straight Southland Conference Tournament.
HCU returns just two players off of last year's team in 6'3 senior guard
D'Aundre Samuels and 6'6 senior forward
Mambourou Mara. Those two will join a cast of 13 total newcomers for the Huskies, a bunch that includes 11 transfers. Eight of those transfers carry previous NCAA Division 1 experience, and the 15-man roster boasts players from seven different states and four countries.
The season opener is the beginning of a 32-game regular season schedule, which sees a 22-game Southland Conference slate for the second straight year as well. The Huskies will play three of their first five and four of their first seven games in Sharp, Texas. Conference action will begin in earnest to kick off December, with five SLC games scheduled before the Christmas break. HCU sandwiches that break with games at Big 12 opponents TCU (Dec 22) and Oklahoma State (Dec 29).
While Tuesday's tilt is the season opener for the Huskies, it will count as an exhibition for Louisiana Christian University, who comes into Sharp Gym with three games already under the belt. Zach Barnes is in his second season at the helm in Pineville, and has the Wildcats at 1-2 following an 83-79 overtime win at home over Wiley College last Saturday.
HCU and LCU have met 10 times over the years with the all-time series knotted at five wins each. Tuesday will be the first matchup since February 4, 1978 when the two schools were known as Houston Baptist University and Louisiana College and the Huskies prevailed 61-60 in Sharp Gym.
LCU is led by Humble, Texas native Cam Ned, a 6'3 freshman guard who averages 20.3 points per game on 52% shooting from the field. He averages 4.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per while also hitting at a 36% clip from the arc. Zaydrien Sewell, a 6'2 junior guard from Alexandria, Lousiana averages 8.7 points, while 6'5 junior forward Isaac Ratliff from Jackson, Mississippi goes for 8.3 points and 7.0 rebounds. Rambo Eagins, a 5'9 junior guard from Jonestown, Mississippi puts together solid all-around numbers with 8.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.0 steals.
HCU will hit the road for a pair of games following the opener, traveling to the midwest to take on Western Illinois University this Saturday and the University of South Dakota next Tuesday. The Huskies return home on Friday, December 13 when it hosts College of Biblical Studies.
#DawgsUp
