Kats To Open Road Swing At UNO
1/10/2017 5:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game 18
Thursday, Jan. 12 • New Orleans, La. • 7:45 p.m. CT • Lakefront Arena (8,785)
Sam Houston State (11-6, 2-2 Southland) at New Orleans (9-6, 4-0 Southland)
Live Stats • @BearkatsMBB on Twitter • Listen on KSAM • Watch Live • SHSU Game Notes
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The Sam Houston State Bearkats righted the ship last week with a pair of wins and now will look to keep those good times rolling when they head to the Big Easy on Thursday for a meeting with league-leading New Orleans.
After starting off the Southland Conference slate 0-2 the Bearkats went on the road and handed McNeese its first league loss of the year before doing the same two nights later to Nicholls in Huntsville. Sam Houston will have its hands full with the early surprise of the league as the Privateers have jumped out to a 4-0 start in Southland play and currently stand as the lone unbeaten team in conference play.
Fans can follow via live stats or by following @BearkatsMBB on Twitter, or listen live on KSAM 101.7 FM with Kooter Roberson on the call.
THE LAST TIME OUT
Aurimas Majauskas created a trio of 3-point plays on three straight possessions with under three minutes remaining to lead Sam Houston to a 74-61 win over Nicholls on Saturday evening at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
The game, which featured 14 ties and 18 lead changes, saw neither team maintain more than a four-point advantage in the opening half. Four Sam Houston players finished in double-figures including Majauskas who registered a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Josh Delaney sunk four 3-pointers and led Sam Houston with 14 points while Dakarai Henderson and Javonte Spivey each finished with 13. The Bearkats finished with nine 3-pointers, one off a season-high and dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Colonels 48-27.
BEARKAT BYTES
- The 11 total wins by Sam Houston are the most by any team in the Southland Conference this season.
- A win over the Privateers would mark the third straight game for the Bearkats to hand its opponent its first league loss of the year.
- Sam Houston had not had more than 4 blocks in a game entering last week, but had 7 vs McNeese and 6 more against Nicholls.
- Sam Houston outrebounded Nicholls 48-27 on Saturday, tying its largest rebounding margin of the season of the year at +21; however, it was the largest rebounding margin for the Bearkats against a Division I opponent in the Jason Hooten era and the largest against a D-1 foe since Sam Houston owned a 42-18 (+24) edge over UTSA in a 70-54 win on Feb. 6, 2008.
- Additionally, the Kats have outrebounded their last two opponents - McNeese and Nicholls - by 99-62 (+37) margin. Sam Houston is 9-1 this season when outrebounding its opponent with the lone defeat coming at the hands of Georgia Tech when SHSU outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 35-31.
- The Kats hit 9 of 24 shots (35.7 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc vs Nicholls, ending a long-distance shooting slump that had seen them hit just 14 of 89 (15.7 percent) in their previous four games combined.
SERIES vs NEW ORLEANS
Sam Houston is 6-1 all-time against New Orleans and Thursday will mark the eighth meeting in the history of the series with the Privateers. UNO won the first-ever meeting, 99-67, in New Orleans during the 1986-87 season; however, Sam Houston has reeled off six straight wins since, beginning in 1999-00. They are 3-1 all-time at UNO.
