Kats Ready For No. 9 Baylor
11/29/2016 9:36:00 PM | Athletics
Game 7
Wednesday, Nov. 30 • Waco, Texas • 8:00 p.m. CT • Ferrell Center (10,347)
Sam Houston State (4-2) at No. 9 Baylor (6-0)
Live Stats • Watch • @BearkatsMBB on Twitter
WACO, Texas – The Sam Houston State Bearkats will get their toughest test of the young season when they battle the undefeated and No. 9-ranked Baylor Bears on Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.
The game will be aired online on Fox Sports Southwest Plus and can be followed on the Fox Sports Go app. Fans can also follow via live stats or by following @BearkatsMBB on Twitter.
THE SERIES
The Bearkats will be battling Baylor for the 11th time in program history and going for just its fourth win in the series. Wednesday will mark the first time Sam Houston and Baylor have squared off on the hardwood since the Bearkats' last trip to the NCAAA Tournament in 2010. Baylor pulled away late for a 68-59 game that day, snapping a two-game losing skid to the Kats after Sam Houston wins in both the 1995-96 and 1999-00 seasons.
THE LAST TIME OUT
Aurimas Majauskas had a season-high 17 points and the Sam Houston State Bearkats got back in the win column by outlasting Idaho, 69-62, on Friday at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
The Kats (4-2) found themselves tied up with the Vandals (3-2) at 57-57 with less than five minutes to play, but snapped the tie with a free throw from Jovante' Spivey and then got buckets from Torry Butler and then turned a steal from Jamal Williams into a score from Paul Baxter for a quick five-point spurt that gave them the lead for good.
Sam Houston hit just 4-for-17 from beyond the arc for the night, but did plenty of work from the foul line, hitting 21-for-30 for the game and 16-for-22 in the second half.
BRINGING BACK THE BULK
Hooten's squad boasts 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.
MILLENIUMS
Senior Dakarai Henderson hit a pair of threes and got 10 of his 14 points in the first half against Southern, but it was his two foul shots with 7:05 to play in the second half that got him to the 1,000-point milestone for his career. The senior is just the 23rd player in Bearkat history to reach the plateau and needs six points to pass Bell Mehrens for 22nd on the all-time scoring list. His three three-pointers against Georgia Tech also moved him into fourth all-time at Sam Houston with 183 for his career. He is just 22 shy of setting a Bearkat career record.
Henderson is likely to not be the last this season. Currently teammates Aurimas Majauskas and Paul Baxter are nearing the mark as well. Majauskas enters Wednesday's game vs Idaho with 932 career points while Baxter is at 907.
THE BUTLER DID IT
Torry Butler has been a bright spot early in the season for Sam Houston State, and goes into Wednesday leading the Southland as one of six players in the Southland averaging better than 8 rebounds per game. He has gone for 10 or more boards three times this season, and already is halfway to his double-double total from last year when he led the Kats in rebounding in 15 of 32 games as a junior.
DEWEY MAKING AN IMPACT
John Dewey III has made an immediate impact on the Bearkats, especially on the offensive end. The transfer guard has led Sam Houston in scoring and assists in half of its games. The Kats are averaging 77.5 points per game since he was inserted into the starting lineup vs Southern.
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.
