Kats go for sweep of Lamar on Thursday
2/8/2017 11:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Game 25
Thursday, Feb. 9 • Beaumont, Texas • 7:30 p.m. CT • Montagne Center (10,746)
Sam Houston State (17-7, 8-3 Southland) at Lamar (14-9, 6-4 Southland)
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HUNTSVILLE – Despite dropping its first game since the calendar turned to 2017 on Saturday, the Sam Houston State Bearkats still find themselves atop the Southland Conference standings with just seven games remaining in the regular season and they will try to strengthen that grip on first place on Thursday when they travel to Beaumont to take on Lamar.
The Kats saw their eight-game win streak come to an end after a quick turnaround on Saturday at Abilene Christian, where the Wildcats now own wins over each of the top three teams in the league. Still, at 8-3 in the Southland, Sam Houston stands tied with New Orleans for the top spot, a game ahead of reigning league champion Stephen F. Austin.
The Bearkats already own wins over both the Privateers and Lumberjacks, and will be looking to sweep the season series for the fifth consecutive season. They have not lost a game to the Cardinals since the 2011-12 season and have not suffered defeat in Beaumont since Jan. 19, 2008 when Lamar pulled out a 93-90 win in overtime.
Sam Houston ran away from the Cardinals with a dominant second half in an 87-65 win in Huntsville less than a month ago, but Lamar enters playing well, having picked up wins in three of its last four games, including a dominating 77-57 win over McNeese on Saturday at the Montagne Center where they currently sport a 10-2 mark.
SERIES vs LAMAR
The Kats may only hold a three-game advantage in the all-time series with Lamar, but has dominated of late. The Kats have won 12 of 13 meetings since 2009-10 after winning the first meeting this season. More so, Sam is 23-8 vs LU since 1999-00 with Jason Hooten being 10-1 vs Lamar.
BEARKAT BYTES
- Sam Houston saw its 8-game win streak come to an end on Saturday. Still, the 8 consecutive conference wins was tied for the longest SLC win streak for the Kats in the Jason Hooten era. The 2014-15 squad also won 8 in a row on their way to a 26-9 overall mark and 15-3 record in league play.
- The 17 total wins by Sam Houston are 4 more than any other team in the Southland Conference.
- With a win over Southeastern Louisiana, Sam Houston would finish with a 7-0 record in the month of January. It would be the first undefeated January for the Kats since joining the Division I ranks.
- John Dewey was only 5-for-28 from long distance entering last week's game against Lamar, but in his last 5 games he is 12/18 (.667) from 3-point range.
- The Kats have reached the 70-point mark 18 times this season, going 16-2 in those games. Their only losses when scoring at least 70 points came on the road early in the year at Ohio and Georgia Tech.
- With 3 more wins this season the Kats would reach the 20-win mark for the 17th time in school history and the third time under Jason Hooten, including 3 of the last 4 years. One more win would equal Sam's win total for all of the 2015-16 season.
