Texas, Sam Houston clash in Austin Tuesday night
11/22/2010 2:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Texas stands 275-102 since the 1999-2000 season while Sam Houston is 215-115. UTEP (205-147), Texas Tech (194-158) and Texas A&M (190-152) round out the top five performers among the state's 20 NCAA Division I men's programs.
The Bearkats and the Longhorns meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Austin in a game to be televised regionally by FOX Sports Southwest. The contest will be available outside the state of Texas on the ESPN Full Court package and on ESPN3.
KSAM 101.7 FM will broadcast the game in Huntsville. Fans also can listen on www.gobearkats.com.
Texas holds an 11-2 lead in the all-time series that dates back to a 33-29 Texas victory in Huntsville on Dec. 19, 1935. Eleven of the 13 contests in the series were played between 1935 and 1952. The last time Sam Houston State defeated the Horns came in a 55-54 win in Austin on Dec. 2, 1950.
Sam Houston comes into the contest 2-0. The Bearkats defeated Mary Hardin-Baylor 72-47 and Northwestern Oklahoma State 90-68 to open the 2010-11 season with a pair of home games.
The defending Southland Conference champions are being led by their three senior captains with Gilberto Clavell averaging 17.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, Josten Crow 16.0 points and 10.0 rebounds and Lance Pevehouse 11.0 points and 4.5 rebounds.
Clavell, the Southland Conference "Newcomer of the Year" in 2009-10, is a first team preseason All-Southland selection while Crow was named to the preseason second team.
Texas is in its 34th year of play in the Frank Erwin Center. The Longhorns have posted an all-time record of 393-93 (.809) in the building.
Texas enters Tuesday's contest against Sam Houston State with a streak of 20 consecutive victories in non-conference home games. The last time the Longhorns lost a non-conference contest at the Erwin Center came in a 67-66 defeat to Wisconsin on Dec. 29, 2007. UT posted a perfect 9-0 mark in non-conference home games last year and went 7-0 in non-conference home contests in 2008-09.
Horns coach Rick Barnes enters Tuesday's contest just one win shy of reaching 500 career victories. Barnes will become the 12th active Men's Basketball Division I coach to reach the 500-win milestone. He also will become the 50th coach in NCAA Division I history to reach the 500-victory plateau.
Solid defense has been a Texas trademark this year. UT has held its first four opponents to an average of 65.5 ppg on 35.8% FG shooting, including a 24-of-80 (.300) mark from three-point range.
Following the Texas game, Sam Houston travels to Colorado State on another non-conference road game Saturday, Nov. 27.
Sam Houston State plays four big home games at Johnson Coliseum in an eight-day stretch beginning Wednesday, Dec. 1, against Saint Thomas. The other three games are against the University of Houston on Saturday, Dec. 4; North Texas on Wednesday, Dec. 8 and Cleveland State on Saturday, Dec. 11.
The official 2010 Southland Conference championship banner raising will highlight the Dec. 8 game with North Texas at 7 p.m.
The contest with the Houston Cougars will be a 2 p.m. Southland TV network game. Saturday, Dec. 11 is a 3:30 p.m. tip.
The new "Elite 8" ticket package offers Sam Houston fans the opportunity to see the defending Southland Conference men's basketball champions play eight big home games at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum this season.
The plan gives fans the opportunity to purchase a ticket to seven Saturday night games against NCAA Division I opponents (matchups with Houston, Cleveland State, Nicholls, UTSA, Southeastern Louisiana, A&M-Corpus Christi and Texas State) plus the Stephen F. Austin rivalry game on Wednesday, January 26 - all eight games for the remarkable price of only $50. The "Elite 8" ticket package is on sale now online on www.gobearkats.com/tickets .
Sam Houston follows up its season opener with a non-conference encounter with Northwestern Oklahoma State on Monday November 15 at 7 p.m.
Fans may purchase tickets now online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the Sam Houston athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone is (936) 294-1764.
Since the Bearkats moved up to the NCAA Division I level in 1986-87, SHSU and Texas have played twice, both times in Austin. The Longhorns won 87-79 in 1988-89 and 122-71 in 2003-04.
