No. 14 California Next Up for Kat Men
11/22/2015 5:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Sam Houston men faced another daunting challenge as they take on California Monday night at 10 p.m. Central time in Berkeley.
The Golden Bears stand No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and No. 14 in the USA Today rankings. The matchup with the Bearkats is part of the Las Vegas Invitational Tournament which will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
Cal is undefeated, 3-0, coming off a hard-fought 70-62 victory over East Carolina in the first game of the LVI, and the Bears will continue in the tournament over Thanksgiving at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, facing San Diego State Thursday night and either West Virginia or Richmond Friday.
After playing Cal Monday, the Kats will travel back to Las Vegas to face either Stetson or Bethune Cookman Friday night.
To date, Cal has held all three of its opponents to 40 percent or lower shooting from the floor, with none of them scoring more than 67 points in a game. In their most recent outing, the Bears held East Carolina to just 32.7 percent from the field.
In addition to field goal percentage defense, Cal has been dominant on the boards with a +15.0 margin. The Bears were +18 in their opener vs. Rice and a season-best +19 against ECU when freshmen Ivan Rabb (14 points, 13 rebounds) and Jaylen Brown (16 points, 10 rebounds) both registered double-doubles.
Senior Tyrone Wallace has paced the scoring attack with at least 20 points in all three games, including a high of 24 vs. UC Santa Barbara.
“California has an outstanding team,” Sam Houston coach Jason Hooten said. “Starting with SMU and then facing Cal is really going to be a test for us. We're going to learn a lot about ourselves on this trip.”
Sam Houston stands 1-2 coming off an 86-81 overtime loss to Southern Illinois Saturday afternoon.
Junior guard Dakarai Henderson leads the Bearkats with a 20.7 scoring average. Two other Sam Houston juniors, center Aurimas Majauskas and guard Ameer Jackson, both own 13.7 scoring means.
The Kats picked up their first victory over the season last Tuesday night, defeating Saint Thomas 114-92. SMU handed Sam Houston an 85-50 road loss in the pair's season opener.
