No. 1 seeded Kats face Nicholls Wednesday
3/10/2010 4:49:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Bearkat Basketball at the Southland Tournament
Wednesday, March 10-Saturday, March 13, 2010
Merrell Center - Katy, Texas
Radio: KSAM-FM 101.7 or www.gobearkats.com
SOUTHLAND TOURNAMENT TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets to see both the men and the women play in the State Farm Southland Conference Post-Season Classic tournament are now on sale. The winner of the Southland tournament earns the league's automatic berth in the 2010 NCAA Big Dance. Only limited tickets for Thursday and Saturday's games remain in the Sam Houston section but tickets in all other sections at the Merrell Center are on sale online now at www.southland.org or will be on sale at the gate in Katy. First round and semifinal men's and women's session tickets are $18 each and feature two games. Championship day tickets are $15. Go to Southland Tournament Central for more information or by call the SHSU Athletic Ticket office at 936 294-1729. The Sam Houston athletic ticket office is located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. By purchasing tournament tickets through the SHSU Ticket Office, fans will assured of seats in the SHSU section of the Merrell Center.
PREGAME BEARKAT ALUMNI RECEPTION
Bearkat fans heading to the State Farm Southland Conference Classic at Merrell Center in Katy for the Sam Houston State University men's basketball game on Wednesday, March 10, will have an opportunity to celebrate with fellow supporters at a pre-game reception hosted by the SHSU Alumni Association. The reception will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Omni Houston Hotel on Westside, located at 13210 Katy Freeway in Houston, approximately eight miles from the Merrell Center.
BEARKATS ARE REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS
Sam Houston won its third Southland regular season championship this season, rolling up a 14-2 record. Head Coach Bob Marlin's Bearkats also won the league in 2000 and 2003. The Kats lost in the semifinals of the 2000 Southland tournament but won the post-season event in 2003. Sam Houston lost to Florida 85-55 in the 2003 NCAA Regional in Florida.
As the No. 1 seed, Sam Houston is assured of national post-season play. If the Kats do not win the tournament, they would receive an automatic berth in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).
SAM HOUSTON SEEKING SECOND NCAA TOURNAMENT BERTH
No. 1 seeded Sam Houston State will be seeking their second NCAA tournament berth at the Southland tournament. The Bearkats won the post-season event in 2003. To pick up its second tournament title, Sam Houston must win three games on a neutral court at the Merrell Center in Katy.
In their 12 other Southland post-season appearances, the Bearkats are 7-0 at home in Johnson Coliseum and 1-11 on the road or on neutral courts. Their only tournament victory away from home was a 64-62 overtime win over McNeese two years ago at the Merrell Center. Sam Houston has reached the finals of the Southland tournament twice. The Kats defeated Stephen F. Austin 69-66 in overtime in Huntsville to win the 2003 event. Sam Houston lost to Northwestern State 95-87 in Natchitoches, La., in 2006.
20-VICTORY SEASONS
Sam Houston is one of 51 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams that have rolled up 20-victory seasons in four of the last five years. Of those 51 teams, Sam Houston ranks 30th in winning percentage with a 106-46 (.697) record from 2006 to 2010. During head coach Bob Marlin's tenure, Sam Houston has produced six 20-win seasons. The two highest victory totals were 23-7 in 2003 and 23-8 in 2008.
KATS WERE TWO ROAD OT LOSSES AWAY FROM PERFECT RECORD
The two losses in Sam Houston's 14-2 Southland record in 2010 both came in road overtime defeats. The Bearkats were five points away from going unbeaten. UTSA won 91-90 in overtime in San Antonio, ending an 11-game winning streak. Texas State edged the Kats 101-97 in the regular season finale in San Marcos.
The 2010 Bearkats have shown the ability to win away from home. Sam Houston is 9-6 on the road or at neutral sites. That includes a tournament championship at the Cancun Challenge in Mexico and a 6-2 road record in Southland Conference play. Overall under head coach Bob Marlin, Sam Houston is 58-45 on the road in league action.
THE 2010 BEARKATS
The 2010 Southland Conference regular season champion Bearkats rank No. 1 in the league in scoring offense, scoring margin, assists, 3-pointers per game and assist/turnover ratio. The Kats are No. 2 in the Southland in field goal pct. and 3-point shooting. Sam Houston ranks among the top 50 teams in eight statistics, leading NCAA Division I men's basketball in assists (20.9) and are No. 4 in assist/TO ratio, No. 8 in treys per game and No. 10 in scoring offense.
DEFENSE A KEY FOR THE BEARKATS
When the Bearkats have played solid defense this season, success has followed. In Sam Houston's victories, the Kats have held opponents to 63.4 points and a field goal percentage of .395. In the Bearkats' losses, opponents have averaged 90.1 points and shot .541. The Bearkats are 15-1 when they out-score their opponents in the second half and 18-1 when they out-rebound the other team.
HIGH-SCORING BACKCOURT DUO
Senior guards Corey Allmond and Ashton Mitchell comprise the highest scoring backcourt duo in the Sam Houston's 23 years at the NCAA Division I level. The two players (who are roommates off the court) have combined for 28.5 points per game this season. Allmond and Mitchell now both rank among Sam Houston's top 30 all-time leading scorers. Mitchell ranks No. 20 with 1,045 points in four years. Allmond stands No. 30 with 932 points in two years. Allmond's 15.8 scoring average is the eighth highest career mark in Sam Houston men's basketball history
TWO DIFFERENCE MAKERS FOR 2010 TEAM
Junior forwards Gilberto Clavell and Josten Crow have been big difference makers for the Bearkats this year. Clavell, a transfer from Collin County, is averaging16.9 points and 6.5 boards. He has scored in double figures in 23 of the Bearkats' 29 games including three games with 30 or more points.
Head coach Bob Marlin calls Crow the team's "glue" - the player who hold things together by doing the dirty work. The Houston Westfield product, in his first year as a starter after two seasons as a reserve, is second on the team in minutes played and rebounding. Crow ranks No. 1 in the Southland and No. 2 in nationally in assist/turnover ratio.
PRESTON BROWN EARNS ACADEMIC HONOR
Preston Brown, the fourth leading scorer and rebounder for the Sam Houston men's basketball team, has been named as a first team selection on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team 2010 All-District 6 honor squad. The team is selected by vote of members of the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) in the district which consists of NCAA teams from Texas, Brown, a senior kinesiology major from Wichita, Ks., produced a 3.50 overall grade point average through his first three years of college.
THE BEARKAT BENCH
Sam Houston averages 21.0 bench points per game and depth has been a key factor for the Bearkats. Sophomore point guard Drae Murray ranks No. 6 in the Southland in assists. Junior guard Lance Pevehouse brings another 3-point shooting threat to the floor. Sophomore post player Antuan Bootle was the team's second-leading rebounder in Southland play before a foot injury sidelined him for the final seven games of the regular season.
WINNING STREAKS
The UTSA overtime loss ended an 11 game winning streak, Sam Houston's longest streak since the team moved up to the NCAA Division I level in 1987. The 2003 conference championship team rolled up 10 consecutive victories before the string was ended in a road game at Louisiana-Monroe. The 1986 Bearkats ran off 20 consecutive victories on the way to a berth in the NCAA Division II regionals. The 1973 Sam Houston squad went 28-0 before falling in the second round of the NAIA National Tournament at Kansas City.
PREVIOUS MEETING WITH FIRST ROUND FOE
Guard Drae Murray's only points saved the day for Sam Houston in a 75-69 victory at Nicholls Feb. 10. Murray hit two free throws with 43 seconds left to make it a two possession game as the Bearkats escaped the pesky Colonels. Lance Pevehouse added two more free throws with 14 seconds left and senior point guard Ashton Mitchell stripped the ball away from Colonels junior Anatoly Bose in the final seconds to seal it. Mitchell led the way with 18 points. Murray had six assists.
Starters Gilberto Clavell (11 points) and Josten Crow fouled out, but Pevehouse and Preston Brown came off the bench to score 13 and nine points respectively. Senior Corey Allmond finished with 12 points. The game was ultimately won at the free-throw line. Sam Houston went 6-for-6 at the stripe in the fi nal minute and a half and finished the game 25-of-31, or 81 percent.
SECOND "WINNINGEST" TEAM IN TEXAS IN 21ST CENTURY
Since the new century began with the 1999-2000 season, the only NCAA Division I men's basketball program in Texas that has won more games than Sam Houston State has been the Texas Longhorns. UT has won 274 games in the 12 seasons since 2000 while the Bearkats have totaled 212 victories. UTEP, Texas Tech and Texas A&M rank third through fifth in the Texas NCAA Division I men's basketball victory totals.
MARLIN WINNINGEST SOUTHLAND ACTIVE COACH
Sam Houston's Bob Marlin is only the second head coach in the history of the Southland to post more than 200 coaching victories. The Bearkats' record of 222-129 in Marlin's 12 seasons since his first year in 1998-99 stands as the best in the Southland over that time span. Mike Vining, head coach at Louisiana-Monroe from 1983 to 2005 compiled a 383-291 record from 1983 to 2005 to rank as the Southland's "winningest" head coach. Ironically, Vining is the man who gave Marlin his first coaching job after graduation from Mississippi State in 1981. Marlin served as Vining's graduate asssistant as NLU won the 1982 TransAmerica Conference championship.
ALUMNI RECEPTION BEFORE WEDNESDAY GAME
Bearkat fans heading to the State Farm Southland Conference Classic at Merrell Center in Katy for the Sam Houston State University men's basketball game on Wednesday, March 10, will have an opportunity to celebrate with fellow supporters at a pre-game reception hosted by the SHSU Alumni Association. The reception will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Omni Houston Hotel on Westside, located at 13210 Katy Freeway in Houston, approximately eight miles from the Merrell Center.
