The Bearkats went back to their old ways in their home basketball opener Tuesday night against Hardin-Simmons. Outside perimeter shooting, defense, and hustle plays - check them all.
It was only Hardin-Simmons, but the Bearkats came out with an impressive 82-31 win and shot close to 50 percent from the 3-point line.
Sam Houston didn't have a lot of tape on Hardin-Simmons and sometimes players from smaller schools can be difficult to identify or scout. Despite that, the Bearkats were able to use their advantage in athleticism and talent to overcome the logistics.
"I think we looked pretty good tonight," Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten said. "Going into a game like Hardin-Simmons, where there's probably half of their guys on their roster that weren't there last year and they hadn't played a game yet, we really didn't know what to expect as far as their team. You don't know who your shooters are, who's not, so it was a really hard scouting report to go over. I was happy with the way our guys played focused and came into this game just like they did the Arkansas game."
It wasn't Indiana, Sam Houston's next opponent, or even a peer like Stephen F. Austin or Lamar, but it was the start of what this Bearkat team hopes can be something special. In the past couple of seasons, the Bearkats have struggled to find reliable perimeter scoring and 3-point shooting regressed as well.
This season, Hooten believes the outside shot will be the strength of the team. That was reflected in Tuesday's box score.
Sam Houston shot 43.8 percent from the field and went 13 of 27 from the beyond the 3-point line. The Kats went from having one or two pure shooters on the team to having a group mostly made of pure shooters.
Will Bond, Marquel McKinney, Jeremy McKay and Darius Gatson combined for 11 3-pointers in 22 attempts. Guards Aaron Harwell and Paul Baxter also hit 3s for Sam Houston.
Hardin-Simmons stayed within a single-digit margin for as long as it could before the Bearkats really got going.
Bond hit a 3 to give Sam Houston a 21-9 lead and the scoreboard never reflected a competitive game from there. In fact, the Bond's shot part of a 21-2 run for the Bearkats in the first half. Hardin-Simmons went into halftime with just 18 points. With just 13 second half points, Hardin-Simmons didn't even break the 30-point mark until inside of a minute left to play.
"We felt like our pressure and our depth would hurt them, and it did," Hooten said. "So defensively when you play a team like that and you get a big lead, whether you try talk to your guys about not doing it or warning them about it, they tend to get a bit sloppy so to speak, or aggressive and gamble and do things we're not going to do Thursday night against Indiana."
Indeed, the game against Indiana is going to be polar opposite in terms of matchups for the Bearkats. While they had little to no tape of Hardin-Simmons, a team they proved they could beat easily without it, the Kats know about as much as they need to when it comes to the No. 1 Hoosiers, even though Hooten says he didn't actually check the scouting report until Tuesday night.
The Bearkats have all of today to think about Cody Zeller and Co. In the meantime, Sam Houston has its first win of the season.
Bond led all scorers with 14 points. McKinney added 13 points, while McKay and Thomas chipped in 12 apiece. Center Michael Holyfield grabbed 12 rebounds and Thomas pulled down eight, respectively.
Following the Indiana game in Bloomington, the Bearkats return to Johnson Coliseum on Monday against Southern Mississippi.
Sam Houston State 82, Hardin-Simmons 31
HARDIN-SIMMONS (0-1)
Derr 1-12 0-0 3, Singletary 2-6 0-0 4, Nelson 1-6 0-0 2, Mims 3-8 0-0 6, Taylor 5-11 0-0 11, Sams 0-2 0-0 0, Stiggers 0-2 0-0 0, Garcia 0-2 0-0 0, Hogan 0-2 0-0 0, Windom-Haynes 1-2 0-0 3, Holland 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 14-55 0-2 31.
SAM HOUSTON STATE (1-1)
Gatson 3-6 1-4 9, McKinney 3-8 4-4 13, McKay 5-12 0-0 12, Gatlin 2-4 3-4 7, Holyfield 2-6 1-3 5, Harwell 2-3 2-2 7, Thomas 6-9 0-2 12, Baxter 1-2 0-0 3, McCormick 0-0 0-0 0, Bond 4-8 2-4 14, Mason 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 28-64 13-23 82.
Halftime-Sam Houston St. 47-18. 3-Point Goals-Hardin-Simmons 3-16 (Windom-Haynes 1-2, Taylor 1-4, Derr 1-5, Hogan 0-1, Mims 0-1, Singletary 0-1, Sams 0-1, Nelson 0-1), Sam Houston St. 13-27 (Bond 4-6, McKinney 3-8, Gatson 2-4, McKay 2-4, Harwell 1-1, Baxter 1-2, Mason 0-1, Gatlin 0-1). Fouled Out-Stiggers. Rebounds-Hardin-Simmons 35 (Nelson 6), Sam Houston St. 48 (Holyfield 12). Assists-Hardin-Simmons 12 (Derr, Singletary, Stiggers, Taylor 2), Sam Houston St. 22 (Baxter 5). Total Fouls-Hardin-Simmons 17, Sam Houston St. 13. A-1,175.
