Men's basketball travels to Central Florida
1/2/2009 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
ORLANDO, FL ? Sam Houston State faces Central Florida Saturday at 6 p.m. at UCF Arena in the Bearkats' final non-conference game before starting their 2009 Southland Conference slate.
The Kats stand 6-6 for the year. Central Florida enters the game with an 8-4 mark. UCF features one of the most exciting players in the nation in senior guard Jermaine Taylor who is averaging 23.0 points per game. Taylor earned MVP honors at the UCF Holiday Classic earlier this week after averaging 36.0 points in two contests. In the title game win over Chicago State, he scored a career-best 38 points.
UCF is 6-0 at the UCF Arena this year. Live video and statistics will be available at UCFAthletics.com.
Sam Houston comes into the contest allowing foes 63.8 points and are shooting just 29.5 percent from deep. In its last contest, the squad defeated visiting Northwest Oklahoma State, 73-52. Two days earlier, Sam Houston State fell 60-50 at Texas A&M.
Corey Almond paces the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game. In addition to averaging 10.1 points, DeLuis Ramirez is the Bearkats' top rebounder at 7.0 per game.
Following the Central Florida trip, Sam Houston will begin Southland Conference action Saturday, Jan. 10, at 2 p.m. at Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches in a game to be televised on the Southland Conference TV Network.
The Bearkats have a 2-0 edge in the all-time series and the teams will be meeting for the first time in Orlando. Sam Houston State has won the previous two series matchups by a combined seven points. The programs met a year ago and host Sam Houston State escaped with a 60-58 overtime win on Jan. 5, 2008. The Bearkats improved to 12-1 in 2007-08 with the victory. Taylor scored a game-high 22 points for the Knights on 9-of-17 shooting from the floor. UCF had the chance to tie the game at 58 with 22 seconds left in overtime, but could not connect on a 3-pointer.
The programs met for the first time on Dec. 21, 2005, in the consolation game of the Fiesta Bowl Classic in Tucson, Ariz. The Bearkats held on for a 68-63 victory.
