Defense a key in showdown with 1st place HBU
1/29/2016 9:14:00 AM | Men's Basketball
As Sam Houston heads into an important Southland Conference confrontation with league leader Houston Baptist Saturday evening in Sharp Gymnasium on the HBU campus, Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten knows one of the most important statistics in the ball game will be field goal percentage defense.
The Huskies are one of three teams tied for first place in the 2016 Southland race. HBU, Stephen F. Austin and A&M-Corpus Christi all stand at the top of the league with perfect 7-0 records. Sam Houston is in fourth place at 6-2.
Looking at the Southland's team statistical rankings, A&M-Corpus Christi and Houston Baptist rank first and second in field goal percentage defense with marks of .400 and .405. Sam Houston stands fourth at .435.
“My head coach at Tarleton State where I played and was an assistant always preached that 42 was the magic number,” Hooten said. “If you can hold your opponents to 42 percent shooting or less, you're going to win some games.”
That view certainly is confirmed by the Bearkats' performance this year. In the Sam men's 11 victories, the Kats have held their opponents to .392 shooting from the field. In the 10 losses, SHSU's foes shot .462.
In Sam Houston's victory last Monday night over Abilene Christian, defense was a key factor as the Wildcats made just 32.7 percent of their shots.
“I challenged our guys to continue to get better on the defensive end,” Hooten said. “Last Monday may have been one of our most complete games from beginning to end defensively. A lot of it was activity. I thought we were really active. We got our hands on a lot of balls. I was very pleased with how we kept the ball in front.”
Houston Baptist enters the contest leading the league in scoring offense in Southland play. The Huskies are averaging 79.6 points per game in SLC action. Anthony Odunsi, a 6-4 senior guard, is the Southland's fourth-leading scorer with 17.0 points per contest. Jourdan Stickler is an outstanding outside shooter who hit six three-pointers in HBU's last outing. The Huskies' are unbeaten at home (9-0) in Sharp Gymnasium.
Sam Houston will counter with the inside-outside combination of 6-8 Aurimas Majauskas, who is averaging 14.5 points per game, and 6-2 Dakarai Henderson, who totals 13.4 points per contest.
The Bearkats and the Huskies are meeting for the 22nd time in the two institutions' men's basketball histories. Sam Houston holds a 14-7 lead in victories. The Bearkats swept the series last year with a 63-52 win in Huntsville and a 76-72 victory in Houston.
The game will be broadcast live in the Walker County area on KSAM 101.7 FM. Tipoff is scheduled for approximately 7 p.m. following the women's game between the Kats and the Huskies. The women start the Southland doubleheader at 4 p.m.
