Defense a strength for 2014-15 SHSU Men
12/9/2014 9:12:00 AM | Men's Basketball
As the Sam Houston men's basketball team breaks for final exam week, head coach Jason Hooten points to one area that pleases him the most about his experienced 2014-15 squad.
“We're playing much better defensively,” Hooten said after the Bearkats' 78-59 victory over UT-Pan American last Saturday. “The players really are fighting hard. Last year, sometimes we would get a lead and then fool around and let the other team come back. Saturday, once we got the lead, we put them away.”
With a 5-3 record so far, Sam Houston has allowed opponents only 62.0 points per game. The Bearkats have limited foes to a .381 field goal shooting percentage and have averaged 19.1 points off turnovers this season.
Next up for the Bearkats will be LSU Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La. Then Sam Houston plays home games against Eastern Washington on Tuesday, December 16; Prairie View A&M on Saturday, December 20 and Howard Payne on Monday, December 29.
With nine lettermen back and four starters returning from a 24-10 squad, Sam Houston State looks to contend for the 2015 Southland Conference men's basketball championship.
The Bearkats have been picked to finish third behind defending Southland regular-season and tournament champion Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State in the annual preseason poll of league head coaches.
“We believe we're going to contend for the title,” Hooten said. “We finished among the top three in the Southland eight of the last 10 years and reached the finals of the Southland tournament last year. These guys know what it takes to succeed in this league and they're working hard.”
Sam Houston is undefeated in three games at home and posted impressive performances on the road in its first seven games. The Bearkats hold NCAA Division I victories over South Dakota (in triple overtime), Fairfield and UT-Pan American.
The Kats have taken two tradition powerhouses to the wire as well. Sam Houston lost by two at UNLV and by three at Texas A&M. Sam Houston had three-point shots at the buzzer for a win at UNLV and a tie at Aggieland.
Two senior guards, Kaheem Ransom (11.3 points per game) and DeMarcus Gatlin (10.9 ppg) are averaging in double figures. Junior guard Dakarai Henderson is adding 9.1 points off the bench.
Underneath the boards, senior post player Michael Holyfield is averaging 8.3 points and 7.0 rebounds while his backup sophomore Aurimas Majauskas adds 8.6 points and 4.0 boards per contest.
Senior Jabari Peters (7.1 ppg) and junior Paul Baxter (7.0 ppg) have started all eight games on the perimeter.
Saturday, Sam Houston followed up poor shooting in the first half (28 percent) with red-hot accuracy in the second (57.7 percent). The Kats outscored UTPA 43-28 in the second half.
“We haven't played a complete game yet this season,” Hooten said. “I'd really like to see what we could do if we played an entire game like we did in the second half against UTPA Saturday.”
Sam Houston opens 2015 Southland Conference play Saturday, January 3 against Incarnate Word.
Tickets to all Sam Houston home men's and women's basketball games at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum are on sale now online at www.gobearkats.com .
