Sam To Face Road Test At Ohio
11/13/2016 7:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game 2
Monday, Nov. 14 • Athens, Ohio • 6 p.m. CT • Convocation Center (13,080)
Sam Houston State (1-0) at Ohio (1-0)
Live Stats • ESPN3 • @BearkatsMBB on Twitter
ATHENS, Ohio – After a convincing win in their season opener on Saturday, the Sam Houston State Bearkats hit the road for the first time for the 2016-17 season on Monday when they battle the Ohio Bobcats on ESPN3.
Thirteen players cracked the scoring column in Sam Houston's 104-57 win over LeTourneau on Saturday in the season opener, but things will be tougher on Monday against an experienced Bobcat squad.
Ohio is 1-0 after winning their 13th consecutive home opener in taking down Southern, 77-67, on Saturday afternoon. Ohio returns 14 players off a squad that finished 23-12 a year ago and was picked to finished second in the MAC's East Division behind reigning league champion Akron.
THE SERIES
This will be the first-ever meeting between the Bearkats and Bobcats on the hardwood. Sam Houston last took on a MAC school in 2013-14 when it fell at Toledo and is 1-4 all-time against the MAC.
THE LAST TIME OUT
Sam Houston State men's basketball used steady offensive play and a tenacious defensive effort, drubbing LeTourneau, 104-57 in the season opener on Saturday afternoon in front of 1,596 spectators at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
The Bearkats shot an impressive 55.9 percent from the field led by John Dewey III's 18 points and 7-for-9 performance in 20 minutes. Dewey, making his first start in a Bearkat uniform after transferring from Blinn, was joined by three others in double-digit scoring including Aurimas Majauskas (12), Cameron Delaney (11) and Phillip Jones Jr. (10).
Defensively, Sam Houston limited LeTourneau to just 28.6 percent shooting in the first half and 30.8 percent for the game. The Bearkats forced 16 turnovers and registered nine steals including three from Chris Galbreath Jr., who added six points and five boards.
REACHING THE CENTURY MARK
The 104 points scored by the Bearkats against LeTourneau was the ninth time Sam Houston has cracked the century mark under head coach Jason Hooten. Sam Houston did it twice last season and has had at least two 100-point outings each of the last three years entering 2016-17.
BRINGING BACK THE BULK
Hooten's squad will boast one of the most experienced rosters in the country in 2016-17, returning all five of its starters and each of its top seven scorers. In fact, the Kats return 85.6 percent of its scoring from last year's 18-win team, an average of 64.2 points per game on the roster from a year ago.
SOUTHLAND FAVORITES
When the annual preseason polls came out from the Southland Conference, it was the Bearkats picked to claim the league crown by both the Southland SIDs and coaches. The Kats received six of 13 first-place votes in the coaches' poll and seven in the SID poll, coming just ahead of four-time defending league champion Stephen F. Austin.
MAJAUSKAS, HENDERSON AND BAXTER NAMED PRESEASON ALL-SOUTHLAND
In addition to the Kats being named the preseason league favorite, seniors Aurimas Majauskas, Dakarai Henderson and Paul Baxter were each named to the preseason all-conference teams. Sam Houston was the only team in the league to boast multiple preseason choices. Majauskas was a first-team preseason selection after earning second team all-Southland honors as a junior, while Henderson and Baxter were both named to the preseason second team.
BAXTER'S BACK
Paul Baxter was a preseason all-Southland Conference selection going into 2015-16, but a foot injury just prior to the start of the year sidelined him for the duration of his true senior season. This year he returns to an already strong Bearkat roster having averaged 8.4 points and 2.9 assists for his career and dished out four assists with no turnovers in his return on Saturday against LeTourneau.
