Second-Half Comeback Falls Short for Men’s Basketball Against Jacksonville State

Friday, January 2

Newark, Del.

7 PM

University of Delaware

4-9,0-2CUSA

Jacksonville State

7-6,2-0CUSA

Jacksonville St.

Delaware

Photo by: Mikey Reeves

Second-Half Comeback Falls Short for Men’s Basketball Against Jacksonville State

1/2/2026 9:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NEWARK, Del. – A second-half comeback fell just short Friday evening as the University of Delaware men's basketball lost in the first-ever matchup against Jacksonville State, 67-64. The Fightin' Blue Hens dip to 4-9, 0-2 CUSA, while the Gamecocks advance to 7-6, 2-0 CUSA.

HEN HIGHLIGHTS

Delaware made 11 triples, surpassing the double-digit threshold for the fifth time this season.
UD won the turnover margin (+3).
Christian Bliss scored a career-high 27 points, including five 3-pointers. He also handed out six assists and corralled four rebounds.
Tyler Houser finished with 19 points and six rebounds.
Justyn Fernandez rounded out a cohort of double-digit scorers with 15 points. He also snagged six boards.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first segment of the game saw an 11-8 lead in favor of the Gamecocks at the under 16-minute media timeout. A 10-2 margin over 4:37 pulled the Blue & Gold in front 21-20 with just under eight minutes remaining in the opening frame. Jax State went ahead by as many as 11 with 2:23 left in the half, but six-unanswered points made it a 36-31 break at the half.
Delaware scored the first five points of the second stanza to tie the game at 36 apiece. After that, a 12-6 differential in favor of the visitors left it at 48-42 at the under 12-minute timeout. JSU took a double-digit lead at 52-42 with 10:31 on the clock before the home team hit back-to-back triples to go into the next stoppage down 52-48. The Hens continued to fight back with a 5-2 run to force a JSU timeout with 6:03 on the clock and a 54-53 game. UD forced a shot clock violation on the ensuing possession which led to a Bliss acrobatic layup to regain the lead. The game ended with three lead changes and two ties.

UP NEXT
Delaware welcomes Kennesaw State to the Bob Carpenter Center on Sunday at 2 p.m.

TICKETS
Tickets for men's basketball are on sale now! All tickets can be purchased at BlueHens.com/bbtix.

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