Kats Return Home To Host LSU-Shreveport
12/2/2016 6:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game 8
Saturday, Dec. 3 • Huntsville, Texas • 6:30 p.m. CT • Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (6,100)Sam Houston State (4-3) vs LSU-Shreveport (6-2)
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HUNTSVILLE, Texas – After taking on a top-10 team earlier in the week, the Bearkats return home to start a stretch of four of games at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum when it hosts LSU-Shreveport on Saturday evening.
Despite Wednesday's setback at Baylor, the Kats have still won three of their last five games going into Saturday, while preseason all-conference big man Aurimas Majauskas has started to get things going offensively, averaging 15.0 points per game in his last two outings against Idaho and the Bears.
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THE SERIES
Saturday will mark the second time the Bearkats have met up with LSU-Shreveport, and the first time since the 2004-05 season. That season the Kats took down the Pilots, 96-64, on their way to an 18-12 record.
THE LAST TIME OUT
The No. 9 Baylor Bears hit 13 three-point buckets and never trailed in handing the Sam Houston State Bearkats a 79-45 loss on Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.
The Kats, who were playing their first top-10 opponent since 2012, were led by 13 points from Majauskas and eight from Dakarai Henderson, but shot just 28.2 percent for the game against a Bear defense that has yet to allow 70 points this season.
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.
TURNING THEM OVER
Through nearly one month of the season, the Bearkats rank second in the Southland and 26th in the country in turnovers forced with 17.3 per game. The Kats defense has forced no fewer than 14 in any game, including a season-high 22 in consecutive games against Southern and Tennessee Tech. In their seven games, Sam Houston has yet to lose the turnover battle, winning it five times and twice tying.
MILLENIUMS
Senior Dakarai Henderson passed Bell Mehrens for 22nd on the all-time Bearkat scoring list with eight points at Baylor. 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. He is just the 23rd player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau for his career after doing so vs Southern.
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 945 career points while Baxter is at 909.
THE BUTLER DID IT
Torry Butler has been a bright spot early in the season for Sam Houston State, and goes into Saturday leading the Southland as one of five players in the Southland averaging at least eight 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.
THE BUTLER DID IT
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.
