ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio Bobcats hit 15 three-pointers and never trailed in handing Sam Houston State a 96-75 loss on Monday night at the Convocation Center.

Torry Butler turned in a double-double and Dakarai Henderson had 18 points for the Kats (1-1), but Sam Houston did not have an answer for the Bobcat (2-0) long ball all night. Ohio, who returned 14 players from a 23-win team a year ago, finished the night 15-for-27 from beyond the arc, led by 20 points and nine rebounds from Antonio Campbell.

“It was disappointing tonight,” Sam Houston head coach Jason Hooten said following the game. “We knew they were going to be a very, very good offensive basketball team and we knew it would be tough, especially early in the year. We came out early and gave up a lot of wide-open threes, which we can't do. There's a lot of things we need to do chemistry-wise and we are very much a work in progress.”

Sam Houston only turned the ball over 13 times on the night, but finished with just eight assists on 26 made baskets. On the flip side, Ohio assisted on more than half of its 31 makes, turning the ball over just 14 times. The Kats finished edges in both bench points (31-25) and second-chance points (13-11) on the strength of a dozen offensive boards.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Ohio opened up on fire, hitting five of its first seven tries from behind the line to open up an eight-point lead before the game's first media timeout. In all, the Bobcats canned 10 triples in the half and led by as much as 18 points midway through the period after a 9-2 run fueled by a pair of threes from Gavin Block.

But the Kats responded with an 8-2 run of their own with half of those points coming from Butler, and held Ohio without a field goal for nearly three minutes in cutting the lead back to just 41-30 with less than two minutes to go in the half. Four points from the foul line by Chris Galbreath Jr. got the Kats back to within 11 with 1:52, but were held without a field goal for the final 3:56 of the half after a three from Albert Almanza.

Ohio made a late push in the final minute, getting buckets from Jason Carter and Jaaron Simmons to take a 15-point lead into the locker room behind 51.6 percent shooting for the half.

The second half started off much like the first with the Bobcats hitting each of their first four tries from three and going opening on a 16-5 run to build up a 22-point lead just three minutes into the half. Sam Houston got buckets from Aurimas Majauskas and Jamal Williams after the Bobcat run, but Ohio got seven straight points from the foul line in just over a minute of clock time to negate a near Bearkat run sparked by a pair of threes from Cameron Delaney and Butler. From there lead swelled to as much as 28 midway through the period, which was more than enough for Ohio to cruise to the finish line.

Henderson picked up 11 of his 17 points in the period, but the Kats shot just 39 percent from the field and were 5-for-15 from three while the Bobcats hit 53.6 percent from the field. 

PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Torry Butler picked up his fourth career double-double of his career with 13 points and 12 rebounds against the Bobcats. He hit three of seven shots from the field, including a three, and was 6-for-8 at the foul stripe. His 12 rebounds tied a career high and gave him his second straight game with double-digit rebounds after having 11 against LeTourneau.

Meanwhile, Henderson hit 7-for-13 from the floor, including hitting three of Sam Houston's nine triples on the night to finish with a team-best 18 points. Aurimas Majauskas had eight of his 10 points in the second half, and Christopher Galbreath Jr. finished with nine points and four rebounds.

KEY STATS
The Bobcats used the long ball all night to their advantage, hitting 10 threes in the opening half and 15 for the game. Ohio hit eight of its first 11 to open the game, including each of its first four of the second half.

QUOTABLES
Hooten on the game as a whole
“We definitely knew how good they were going to be, but the reality for us is that we have got to get better defensively. We had two scrimmages with two teams that pressed us and allowed us a lot of transition baskets, and tonight that wasn't the case. We played a halfcourt team and we didn't execute. I wasn't disappointed in our offense – we scored 75 points – which was good enough to win a basketball game. We outscored them in hustle points and won the turnover battle. But we have to get better defensively.”

Hooten on the late momentum swing in the first half
“The difference in the game was the last minute of the first half and how it carried over into the early part of the second half. It was 41-30 and we had it right where we needed to be to try and get it back to within single digits going into the half. Then we come out in the second half and they go bang, bang, bang with the threes and all of a sudden it's an 18-point game, and it stayed that way.” 

UP NEXT
The Bearkats will have another short turnaround as they now get set to host Southern on Thursday at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.