Kats Head To SIU For Saturday Matinee
12/9/2016 3:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game 9
Saturday, Dec. 10 • Carbondale, Ill.• 1:00 p.m. CT • SIU Arena (8,284)
Sam Houston State (5-3) at Southern Illinois (5-4)
ESPN3 • Live Stats • @BearkatsMBB on Twitter
CARBONDALE, Ill. – After week off for final exams, the Sam Houston State Bearkats return to the court on Saturday afternoon looking for their second consecutive win when they take on Southern Illinois at SIU Arena.
Tipoff from Carbondale is set for 1 p.m. CT and will be aired on the ESPN3 online platform, and the WatchESPN app. Fans can also follow via live stats or by following @BearkatsMBB on Twitter.
The Bearkats, who stand at 5-3 on the season, will be looking to avenge an 86-81 overtime loss last season to the Salukis. Sam is most recently coming off a 91-59 win over LSU-Shreveport at Johnson Coliseum, outscoring the Pilots by 31 points in the second half behind a game-high 19 points and five threes from Cameron Delaney.
THE SERIES
This will be the third meeting between the Bearkats and the Salukis, with SIU having won each of the first two. Saturday will be Sam Houston's first trip to Carbondale since 1967. The Salukis picked up a win last year in Huntsville, overcoming an 18-point deficit in the first half to win 86-81 in overtime.
THE LAST TIME OUT
The Sam Houston State Bearkats used a strong second half to run past LSU-Shreveport, 91-59, on Saturday night at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
Cameron Delaney hit 5-for-6 from beyond the arc and finished with a game-best 19 points off the bench and Sam Houston outscored the Pilots 57-26 in the second half after leading by just one at the break to run away with the win.
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 four points to pass Al Adams for 21st on the all-time scoring list. He is also fourth all-time at Sam Houston with 193 for his career. He is just 17 shy of setting a Bearkat career record.
Henderson is likely to not be the last this season to reach the 1,000-point mark. Currently teammates Aurimas Majauskas and Paul Baxter are nearing the mark as well. Majauskas enters Wednesday's game vs Idaho with 952 career points while Baxter is at 913.
WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
The Bearkats are making things happen on the defensive end, forcing 17.13 turnovers per game. That mark is only slightly behind Stephen F. Austin for the best mark in the Southland, and ranks as 24th in the nation. Sam Houston has not lost a turnover battle this season, winning it in 6 of 8 games to date.
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 just 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.
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/or assists in more than of its games. The Kats are averaging 81.2 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.
