Men’s Basketball Downs Sam Houston in Nationally Televised Thriller, 83-80

Thursday, March 5

Newark, Del.

7 PM

University of Delaware

10-20,6-13CUSA

Sam Houston

21-9,13-6CUSA

Sam Houston

Delaware

Photo by: Mikey Reeves

Men’s Basketball Downs Sam Houston in Nationally Televised Thriller, 83-80

3/5/2026 9:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

NEWARK, Del. – University of Delaware men's basketball downed Sam Houston Thursday night, 83-80, in a nationally televised thriller. The Fightin' Blue Hens advance to 10-20 overall and 6-13 in CUSA action, while the Bearkats dip to 21-9, 13-6 CUSA.

Christian Bliss broke the records for most minutes played in a season by a rookie (1,197) and for most free throw attempts in a season by a rookie (164) in Thursday's win.

HEN HIGHLIGHTS

The Blue & Gold out shot SHSU in all aspects of the game, including 51.7 percent overall and 51.9 percent from long range.
UD tied its season-best 14 triples made.
The Hens blocked a season-high 10 shots.
Justyn Fernandez led all scorers with 26 points, including a career-high six triples on 11 attempts.
Bliss tallied his second-career double-double with 22 points and 10 assists. He added a career-high four steals.
Jayden Taylor registered career highs with 12 points and eight rebounds. The rookie went 6-of-7 from the field and tallied a career-high four blocks.
Alex Kazanecki secured his second-consecutive double-digit scoring performance with 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting with all three coming from range.
Houston Emory deflected a career-best four shots.

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was a defensive battle over the opening 4:30 with the game knotted at two apiece at the first media break. The home picked up play with nine-unanswered points over a 1:34 span to pull ahead 11-5. The UD defense held the Bearkats without a point for 2:02 as part of that run to force a timeout from the visitors. Sam Houston clawed back to cut the margin to 22-18 at the under-eight media stoppage. As the halftime buzzer sounded, both teams had 33 points.
Delaware opened the second frame with seven-consecutive points to pull ahead 40-33, which forced a timeout by Sam Houston. The under-16 media break came at 15:24 and saw the Blue & Gold build its largest lead of the game to that point, 48-39. The offense sparked for the Bearkats seeing them cut into the gap 55-52 at the next break at 11:45. There were four lead changes up to the 3:51 mark before Delaware locked in the lead for good.

GAME NOTES

This is just the 10^th time during the Martin Ingelsby tenure that a game was tied at halftime.
Fernandez has scored at least 15 points in nine-straight games.
Delaware has made 10+ 3-pointers 12 times this season.

UP NEXT
Delaware hosts LA Tech on Saturday at noon to conclude the regular season.

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

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