The Colorado College men's basketball team tips off the 2026 calendar year with a trip down south to Houston, TX, to take on No. 14 St. Thomas (TX) on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 11 a.m. MT. 
 
CC (2-7) is looking for its first conference win and its second road win of the season. 
 
Last Time Out
 
The Tigers hosted Nebraska Wesleyan on Dec. 20 and fell 74-64. Junior Ty Hendler led all Tigers in scoring, finishing with 21 points, four rebounds and two assists while going 7-for-15 from the field and 6-for-7 at the free-throw line.
 
Asher Nofziger controlled the glass, pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds to go with 10 points and one assist. He added seven offensive rebounds and went 6-for-7 from the free-throw line.
Gavin Carter paced CC in assists, dishing out nine while adding four points, one rebound and three steals.
 
Defensively, Russell MacFarlane anchored the interior with a career-high five blocks. He finished with eight points, eight rebounds and one assist.
 
Off the bench, Terrion Benson provided an efficient spark, scoring eight points on 4-for-4 shooting while adding four rebounds and a team-high two steals.
 
The Slate
 
CC has faced four Top-25-ranked teams this year. Saturday's game against the Celts will be the fifth game vs a ranked team. 
 
Last time against St. Thomas, the Celts were ranked No. 17 in the nation, and the Tigers took them to an overtime thriller and just came up short 84-80. 
 
Tiger Tails
 
Senior Asher Nofziger leads the team with 16.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Ty Hendler is second with 15.3 ppg. Gavin Carter is the team's assist leader with 33. Terrion Benson leads CC with 11 steals as a freshman. 
 
Scouting The Celts
 
UST is 9-1 entering Saturday. The Celts are on a six-game winning streak their only loss on the season coming against No. 6 WashU. 
 
Junior guard Corey Thompson leads the team with 16.7 ppg and junior Garrett Rodgers follows with 15.0 ppg.