Game 13 Preview: at WKU

Game 13 • at WKU
Bowling Green, Kentucky • E.A. Diddle Arena
Sam Houston (8-4, 0-1 CUSA) vs WKU (7-5, 0-1 CUSA)
Friday, Jan. 2 • 4 PM CST

TV: ESPN+
RADIO: BSN

HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats • @Bearkats_MBB
Series vs the Hilltoppers: Sam Houston leads 3-1

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Sam Houston will try to notch its first Conference USA win of the season when league play resumes Friday at Western Kentucky.

Tipoff for the game is set for 4 p.m. and will air on ESPN+. The game can also be heard online on the Bearkat Sports Network with Carlos Zimmermann on the call.

The Kats are coming off a 70-point victory at home over the College of Biblical Studies in the final nonconference game of the season on Dec. 28. Sam Houston lost the CUSA opener on the road at NM State by nine on Dec. 21.

Kats make easy work of Biblical Studies
Sam Houston bounced back from a loss in the Conference USA opener to wrap up nonconference action with a 117-57 victory over the College of Biblical Studies at Johnson Coliseum on Sunday.

The Bearkats (8-4) controlled the temp on both ends of the court, shooting close to 60 percent while limiting the Ambassadors to 31 percent. Sam Houston used its height advantage to dominate the paint, outscoring Biblical Studies 62-12 and outrebounding the Houston area team 66-29.

Isaiah Manning led the Kats with a career-high 27 points to go along with 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Freshman Jacob Walker also scored a new career high with 24 points, Veljko Illic added 16 points and nine boards, freshman Matt Dann chipped in a career-high 12 points, freshman Jacoby Coleman finished with 11 and Damon Nicholas Jr. had 10.

Sam Houston built a huge first-half lead and never looked back.

The Kats went on a 10-0 run thanks to back-to-back 3s by Walker and Manning, who added a pair of layups to grab a 23-10 advantage. Dann punched in consecutive dunks after a free throw and a two more layups by Nicholas to cap the run at 19-0 to put the game away early as the Ambassadors went more than seven minutes without scoring.

Sam Houston shot a blistering 66 percent from the field in the first half, making 25 of 40 shot attempts. The Bearkats also held Biblical Studies to just 23 percent shooting to build a commanding 59-21 lead at the break.

Making it count from long range
Sam Houston has made 67 3-pointers in its last six games. The Bearkats went 14 for 37 in a loss to Oklahoma State after going 16 for 27 in a win over Idaho to close out the Holiday Hoops Classic in Boise with a perfect 2-0 record. They made 5 more in a 12-point win over Texas Southern on Dec. 6 and drilled 10 in the win over Oregon State. Sam dropped 10 3s in a loss at NM Mexico then closed nonconference with 12 in a win over Biblical Studies on Dec. 28.

Bench getting it done
Sam Houston has had to replace 96 percent of its scoring from last season. The Bearkats scored 2,411 total points with 92 of those coming from sophomore returners Jaxson Ford (69 points) and Cheik Ndiaye (23), accounting for just 4 percent of last year's scoring. The bench has come through so far this season as the Kats rank 16th in the country in bench points at 36.67 per game led by sophomore Isaiah Manning who ranks first on the team in scoring 12.2. Freshmen Jacobe Coleman and Jacob Walker are adding 9.0 and 8.7 points off the bench, respectively.

Sam Houston in the NET Rankings
Sam Houston is ranked No. 87 in the latest NCAA NET rankings (as of Dec. 31), which is the highest in CUSA ahead of Liberty at 108. When the rankings were released, the Kats were 78th. The highest-ranking Sam Houston has had was seventh when the NCAA introduced NET rankings for the first time in December 2022.

Game 13 Preview: at WKU

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Players Mentioned

Jacobe Coleman

Matt Dann

Jaxson Ford

Isaiah Manning

Damon Nicholas Jr.

Jacob Walker

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