🆚 Southeastern Louisiana University
📆 Saturday – February 7, 2026
⏰ 3:30 pm CT
🏟️ University Center – Hammond, Louisiana
📈 LIVE STATS
📺 ESPN+
🆚 McNeese State University
📆 Monday – February 9, 2026
⏰ 6:30 pm CT
🏟️ Townley Law Arena – Lake Charles, Louisiana
📈 LIVE STATS
📺 ESPN+
Houston Christian University concludes its four-game road stretch with a pair of games in Louisiana, first in Hammond on Saturday at Southeastern Louisiana University before a Monday night tilt in Lake Charles against McNeese State University. The Huskies open the second leg with a 3:30 pm tip-off from the University Center as they look to avenge a December 13 overtime loss to the Lions.
HCU lost its most recent outing, falling into an early hole that it couldn't recover from on Monday night and dropping a 74-57 decision to University of Texas Rio Grande Valley at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. The Vaqueros jumped out to a double-digit lead five minutes in and never looked back in winning their sixth straight game.
A conventional three-point play by
Demari Williams capped an 8-4 spurt to end the first half as the Huskies closed the gap to 17 at the intermission. The two teams traded baskets for three minutes before a three-pointer by
D'Aundre Samuels cut the deficit to a dozen, 49-37 at the 15:57 mark. Five minutes later, a Williams hit from distance cut the lead to nine, 55-46, giving the Huskies some life heading into the final 10 minutes.
HCU couldn't ever get over the hump however, as the Vaqueros held the Huskies at bay for the next six minutes and methodically nudged the lead back into the mid-double figures. Back-to-back triples by Zae Blake and Cotton pushed the lead back to 17 with 4:36 to play, essentially putting the game out of reach.
A trio of Huskies placed in double-digit scoring, led by
Demari Williams who scored a game-high 18.
Ryan Bartley picked up where he left off on Saturday from distance, nailing 3-5 from the arc to finish with a dozen points, while
D'Aundre Samuels chipped in 10 points and a team high six rebounds.
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.
At 8-15 on the season and 4-10 in conference play, HCU is currently tied with East Texas A&M and Northwestern State for ninth place in the league, one game behind Incarnate Word for the eighth and final spot in the tournament field with eight games left on the league schedule. East Texas A&M defeated Northwestern State 74-68 on Wednesday in Natchitoches and the two teams play again on Saturday in Commerce. HCU will travel to play both for a second time this season on the next to last weekend of regular season play.
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 10.8 points to go with 4.0 boards while sitting third in the Southland Conference at 4.8 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. He had his third double-digit assist effort of the season with 10 in the last-second win over Northwestern State to become the first player with three in a season since Ricky Bennett in 2003-04. His six dimes vs. UIW put him at 104 to become the first HCU player to hit the century mark in a single-season since Ian DuBose had 111 during the 2019-20 campaign.
Since the Christmas break,
Demari Williams has provided a huge spark for the Huskies, first off the bench before then making his first start of the season at UIW. He has scored in double-figures eight times in the 11 games since returning from the holiday. In those 11 games (10 starts) Williams is leading the Huskies in scoring (15.1 ppg) while shooting 51% from the floor, 38% from deep and 82% from the charity stripe. The redshirt junior from Fulshear is averaging 13.0 ppg and 3.7 rebounds in conference action with shooting splits of 51/36/85.
Williams had a then career-best 19 points in the loss at then No. 3 Iowa State in the first game back (Dec. 29) and broke it five days later with his first-ever 20-point night, scoring 22 in the loss to UIW (1/3). That high then fell as well in the homestand finale, as Williams led a huge rally against UIW (1/27) with his 24 points on a career-best 13-14 from the free throw line. Williams averaged 23 points and six rebounds on 15-23 (65%) shooting from the field in the two regular-season games against UIW.
The Huskies have three players in double-figures overall on the season as Williams has joined the fray at 10.0 following Monday's game. In conference action, the Huskies also have three players in double-figures with Williams (13.0) passing
Elijah Brooks (11.5) for the team lead while
Demarco Bethea averages 10.5 and leads HCU on the backboards at 5.5 per in conference action. Bethea is one of seven players averaging 3.1 rebounds or more in SLC play. Green (9.7) and
Ryan Bartley (9.1) sit right outside double-digits with
Trent Johnson (8.9) not far behind.
D'Aundre Samuels has started the last seven games for HCU, averaging 10.6 points, 4.3 caroms and 2.7 assists over that stretch. On the four-game homestand, he averaged 11 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals.
Ryan Bartley has gone 7-10 from the arc over the first two games of the road stretch, including matching his career-best with four at TAMUCC on January 31. Dating back to the start of the four-game homestand, Bartley is now 12-21 (57%) over his last six games.
HCU and Southeastern have met 23 times with the Lions holding a 15-8 lead after their 74-71 overtime victory on December 13. SLU has won seven of the last eight meetings, with the lone win for HCU coming last year in Hammond as
Bryson Dawkins and
Julian Mackey each pumped in 27 points during the 70-62 victory.
This year's meeting on Demember 13 was a tight-knit affair from the get-go. Tied at the half and again after 40 minutes,
the game wasn't ultimately decided until a fallaway jumper by SLU's Peter Hemschemeier with 27 seconds remaining. Jeremy Elyzee had 17 points and seven boards to lead the Lions while Hemschemeier finished with 14 points on 4-7 from downtown.
Trent Johnson hit a career-best five three-pointers for a then career-high 17 points for the Huskies and was joined by
Elijah Brooks with 17 as well.
David Keifer is in his seventh season at Southeastern and the Lions are currently 6-17 overall and 3-11 in the league. SLU is last in the league in scoring at 64.5 points, but are just a -6 in scoring margin, as they rank sixth in defense a tick over 70 points allowed. Isaiah Gaines, a 6'8 grad forward, leads the Lions in SLC play, averaging 12.1 points and 6.7 boards while Elyzee, a 6'7 sophomore forward, averages 11.4 and 5.1 in conference action. Hemschemeier averages 7.9 points and 2.2 rebounds.
HCU and McNeese have met 36 times over the years, with the Pokes holding a 26-10 advantage in the series
following a 78-68 win in Houston on December 15. The Huskies led 40-33 at the half, but an 11-0 run by the Cowboys coming out of the break turned the tide, and the visitors eventually pulled away over the final four minutes. Larry Johnson led the Cowboys with 22 points and six boards while DJ Richards chipped in 14.
Ryan Bartley and
Trent Johnson combined to go 8-15 from the arc for 14 and 12 points respectively and
Demarco Bethea added 11 points and six boards to pace the HCU offense.
Bill Armstrong is in his first season with McNeese, and has the Cowboys sitting at 18-5 overall and 11-3 in conference action. McNeese is in second place in the league, two games behind league-leading Stephen F. Austin heading into Saturday's game against Incarnate Word. The Cowboys lead the league in scoring at 81.3 points a game and are third in defense, allowing just 67.5 per game. McNeese also paces the league in field goal and free throw percentage as well as steals per game while ranking second in field goal defense
Johnson, a 6'4 freshman guard, highlights a balanced offensive attack, scoring 16.9 points while pulling down 5.9 boards a game in SLC action. Tyshawn Archie, a 6'1 junior guard averages 13.6 points and shoots 39% from distance, while 2024-25 Southland Player of the Year Javohn Garcia, a 6'3 senior guard, averages 10 points and hits 35% from the arc.
The Huskies are 9-6 all-time in games played February 7. The last outing came in 2018, a 100-80 loss at Central Arkansas, with the last victory being an 88-72 decision over Texas A&M International in 2005. HCU holds an 11-5 mark on February 9 with the last time playing coming in 2023, a 91-68 loss at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. HCU last tasted victory on the date in 2017, an 86-69 win at Northwestern State.
Following this two-game swing in Louisiana, the Huskies will return home for a pair of rematches with two more Louisiana schools. A Valentine's Day matinee with New Orleans will precede a Monday night affair with Nicholls on February 16.
#DawgsUp
