South Bend Bound
11/15/2011 7:12:00 AM | Men's Basketball
They're still far from a finished product, Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten said on Monday.
Tuesday morning the Bearkats board a plane to South Bend, Ind., home of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, to take on the Big East powerhouse.
The game will be broadcast locally on KSAM 101.7 FM will broadcast the contest live Wednesday night.
Sam Houston has a chance to make a name for itself on Wednesday, the same way it did against Kentucky at Rupp Arena two seasons ago.
Even in defeat, the Bearkat earned Kentucky's respect in large part due to then-senior Corey Allmond dropping a Rupp Arena record 11 3-pointers.
This season's sharp shooter is Konner Tucker, who could have something similiar to Allmond's performance if he gets hot in South Bend.
For now, though, players and coaches alike are focused on making the Bearkats more of a complete team.
"I think since we have so many new faces, we're just trying to get acquainted with each other," Tucker said.
"Even though we practice with each other all the time, it's different in a game situation."
Wednesday's game will be especially different because the Bearkats will play one of the best teams they'll face all year.
Notre Dame is a big, methodical team that runs a lot of motion with sophomore point guard Eric Atkins running the show.
"The hard thing is trying to get prepared for Notre Dame and in reality we just need to try to get better ourselves," Hooten said.
"There are so many things we don't have in yet."
Still, the new players on the team appear to be responding well, as shown by Steven Werner going out on Saturday night against Howard Payne and scoring 20 points with 16 rebounds to compliment it.
Werner will likely start in place of senior Antuan Bootle who is out indefinitely with a broken left foot.
The Bearkats have a host of big men who are expected to pick up the slack, including 6-11 freshman Michael Holyfield.
The Sam Houston men will not return home again until Tuesday November 29 when they play host to Dallas Christian at 7 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum.
Hillcrest Ford of Huntsville will be giving on Sam Houston State student the opportunity to win an F150 truck at the Bearkats' game with Dallas Christion.
The F150 truck is not the only prize up for grabs in the "Hillcrest Toss for A Truck" event November 29. Aberdeen and Brook Place Apartments have added great incentives to enter including an Apple IPAD, a Tom-Tom Navigation System and a Sam Houston t-shirt. Wing Stop is joining in the fun of the "Hillcrest Toss for a Truck" contest as well. Wing Stop will be providing a $25 gift card as a prize and also will be presenting special discount Wing Stop coupons for the section represented by the first place contestant.
Students can register at any of the Bearkat men and women's home games at Johnson Coliseum this month. Sam Houston men's basketball tips off Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. hosting Howard Payne and the women open their regular season on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. with UT-Tyler.
