Las Vegas, NV – The No. 12 nationally ranked Indian Hills Men's Basketball squad wraps up the first half of the season with a trip to Las Vegas, NV to compete in the Tarkanian Classic this weekend.

DETAILS: Tarkanian Classic

Orleans Arena  |  Las Vegas, NV

The Warriors are set to make its longest trek of the year with one of the premiere college basketball events across the country in the Tarkanian Classic. Some of the top teams in the country will compete at the 7,500 seat Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

STARTING FIVE

• The Warriors head West after suffering just their second loss of the season, an 84-78 matchup at Mineral Area College (MO) on December 13.
• Chaz Watson scored a team-high 17 points against the Cardinals, the eighth different Warrior to lead the team in scoring this year.
• Indian Hills is shooting 40.7 percent from three-point range on the road compared to 32.7 percent from long-range at the Hellyer Center.
• Mason Costello now sits at 86 career three-point shots for the Warriors, third-most for the program over the last six seasons.
• With Gillette (WY) and North Idaho, the Warriors will be matching up with an opponent from their seventh and eighth different state this year.

WARRIORS IN VEGAS

• Indian Hills will be making its first trip to Las Vegas since the 1998-99 season, the third consecutive year the Warriors competed at the Las Vegas Junior College Invitational.
• The Warriors are 9-0 all-time in Sin City, going 3-0 during their trips to Las Vegas in 1997, 1998, and 1999.
• The 1,575 haul to the Orleans Arena is the longest road trip for the Warriors since its last trip to Las Vegas in 1999.
• Two former Indian Hills standouts have previously transferred to the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV):
  • Jelan Kendrick (2012-13)
  • J.K. Edwards (2000-02)
• Other teams competing at the Tarkanian Classic include Howard College (TX), McCook Community College (NE), Salt Lake Community College (UT), Snow College (UT), College of Southern Nevada, and South Plains College (TX).

DEWEY'S NOTES

"This is a big trip for our program to finish the 2025 year off right," stated head coach Cole Dewey. "The Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas is a longstanding event that we are honored to be a part of. We're looking forward to lacing them up this week and going against two really good teams."

SCOUTING THE PRONGHORNS

Indian Hills will be squaring off with Gillette for the first time in program history on Thursday.

• Gillette is off to a 5-5 start on the year, dropping four of its first five contests, but head to Las Vegas on a four-game winning streak.
• Rashad McCormick leads the offense with 21.5 points per game followed by Sayed Sayed's 18.5 points per game.
• The Pronghorns are averaging 83.6 points per game in wins, but just 73.2 points per game in losses.
• All five of the Pronghorns' losses have come on the road.
• The Pronghorns are in their third season of competition after a three-year hiatus following the 2019-20 campaign. 
• Head Coach Shawn Neary, who coached the Pronghorns through the program's first 11 seasons of existence (2009-2020), is back on the sidelines for the third consecutive season.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS

Like Gillette, Indian Hills and North Idaho will be squaring off for the first time.

• The Cardinals head to Orleans Arena with an 8-2 overall record, having won their last three matchups.
• Seven of the team's 10 games have been decided by single-digits. Eight different players are averaging at least 5.0 points per game.
• North Idaho is 4-2 away from its home court on the year.
• Justus Haseley leads three players in double-figures with 12.2 points per game
• The Cardinals are under the direction of head coach Corey Symons who is in his 22nd season at the helm of the program.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Former Warrior Braden Sparks is in his second season at Fairfield University and has produced a breakout senior campaign. The guard is currently leading the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) with 17.2 points per game on the year. Sparks has started all 11 contests and has tallied at least 20 points in a ballgame five times this season, including a season-high 25 at Penn St. earlier in the year. Sparks also leads the Stags in minutes, three-point shots made, three-point shot percentage, assists and steals.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Warriors will head into the holiday break before returning to action January 6 at the Hellyer Center with a non-league matchup vs. Dakota County Technical College (MN). Action gets underway at 7:00 PM.

Purchase tickets in advance: Indian Hills vs. Dakota County

NEW YEAR - WHAT TO KNOW

Fans can keep up the Indian Hills Basketball squad all year long through a number of ways:

• X (formerly Twitter): @IHCCAthletics  |  @IHCCBasketball
• Facebook: Indian Hills Athletics  |  Indian Hills Basketball
• Instagram: @IHCCAthletics  |  @IHCCBasketball
• Youtube: Indian Hills Athletics
• Website: www.indianhillsathletics.com
• Catch up with the history of Indian Hills Men's Basketball: Indian Hills Men's Basketball Record Book
• All home games are played at Hellyer Student Life Center on the Indian Hills - Ottumwa campus

HOW TO WATCH

As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of all Indian Hills Men's Basketball home, away, and postseason games. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:

• GoHillsTV App: Download the Iowa Media Network app on your android or ios device and navigate to the GoHillsTV section
• Website: https://www.iowamedianetwork.com/gohillstv to catch all live and archived information
• Roku Streaming Device (new):  Have a Roku TV or streaming stick? Download the GoHillsTV app to start streaming today!

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